PISA is an international assessment of the skills and knowledge of 15 year olds, coordinated by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), that evaluates whether students approaching the end of compulsory education have acquired the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society.

The OECD defines math skills as "an individual’s capacity to identify and understand the role that mathematics plays in the world, to make well-founded judgements and to use and engage with mathematics in ways that meet the needs of that individual’s life as a constructive, concerned and reflective citizen."¹

In its report on the 2006 PISA results, the OECD outlines the importance of math skills in today’s world:

With the growing role of science, mathematics and technology in modern life, the objectives of personal fulfilment, employment and full participation in society increasingly require that all adults, not just those aspiring to a scientific career, should be mathematically, scientifically and technologically literate. The performance of a country’s best students in mathematics and related subjects may have implications for the role that that country will play in tomorrow’s advanced technology sector, and for its overall international competitiveness. Conversely, deficiencies among lower-performing students in mathematics can have negative consequences for individuals’ labour-market and earnings prospects and for their capacity to participate fully in society.²

An outstanding issue is whether good results on the PISA math tests set students on a path to pursue advanced credentials in related fields. Over time, we might expect to see a relationship between these scores and the number of graduates in science, math, computer science, and engineering.

Eleven per cent of Canadian students scored at level 1 or below on the 2006 PISA math test. This shows that only a small percentage of Canadian 15 year olds are not acquiring basic math skills through the core education system. Canada places 2^nd out of 17 peer countries in the Conference Board comparison and gets an "A" grade.

Finland is in 1^st place; only 6 per cent of Finnish students scored low on the PISA math test in 2006. Italy places last in our rankings, with a third of its students scoring at level 1 or below on the PISA math test. A full 33 per cent of Italian 15 year olds do not have the basic mathematical knowledge and skills required for full participation in society.

In the latest PISA report, the OECD concludes that performance in its math assessment is closely related to subsequent outcomes, such as finishing high school and participating in post-secondary education.³ To reach this conclusion, the OECD used an Australian study. In 2006, Australia tracked the progress of the 15-year-old students who had taken the 2003 PISA math test. The 2006 analysis found there was an increased probability of Year 12 (high-school) completion for each proficiency level achieved on the PISA math test three years earlier.

¹ Patrick Bussière, Fernando Cartwright, and Tamara Knighton, Measuring Up: Canadian Results of the OECD PISA Study (Ottawa: Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Statistics Canada, 2004), p. 9.

² OECD, PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World, Volume 1: Analysis (Paris: Author, 2007), pp. 322-23.

³ OECD, PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow’s World, Volume 1: Analysis (Paris: Author, 2007), p. 300.