December 4, 2001

Edmonton...Alberta students scored the highest marks in reading and were among the top three in science and mathematics on last year's OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. In science, Alberta students had the third highest score, behind their counterparts in Korea and Japan. In mathematics, Alberta students also scored third highest, behind Japan and Quebec. In both science and math, the Alberta results were not significantly different from the top two. Alberta students scored significantly above the national average in all three subjects.

"Alberta's impressive results reflect the high quality of teaching in classrooms across the province and the success of Alberta's curriculum. Alberta clearly has one of the best education systems in the world," said Dr. Lyle Oberg, Minister of Learning.

PISA assesses the international achievement of 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics and science, and is conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA is administered every three years and focuses on a different subject each time. In 2000, the largest portion of the test and major area of focus was reading.

"Alberta Learning already emphasizes English language arts in our curriculum as a foundation for all learning," said Dr. Oberg. "I'm pleased to see our successes recognized as we continue to find ways to further develop students' ability to understand and reflect on the material they read."

When compared with other nations, Alberta's top students performed very well. About 24 per cent of Alberta's students scored in the top ten percent in reading, 19 per cent scored in the top ten per cent in science, and about 18 per cent scored in the top ten per cent in mathematics.

A copy of the Canadian results published in "Measuring up: The performance of Canada's youth in reading, mathematics and science" is available from the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada at http://www.cmec.ca.

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