Irish students have been ranked 'top of the class' in the EU and OECD for reading literacy.
It's among the findings of a new report analysing student performance across several areas.
The PISA project is carried out by the OECD every three years and sees students partake in tests which analyse performance in reading, maths, and science.
Of 81 countries globally - Ireland ranked second in reading literacy just behind Singapore - and the best of all 37 OECD countries and 26 EU countries.
Results for science and maths were deemed to be ‘above average’. Ireland is in 12th place when it comes to science and 11th in maths.
However, the study noted the number of ‘high achieving’ students in these areas was average or below average.
Over 5,500 15-year-old Irish Students participated in PISA 2022, across 170 schools.
Some 690,000 students took the assessment in 2022, representing about 29 million 15-year-olds in the schools of the 81 participating countries and economies.
In Ireland, 5569 students, in 170 schools, completed the assessment in mathematics, reading or science, representing about 65 500 15-year-old students (an estimated 100% of the total population of 15-year-olds).
How does Ireland compare?
Students in Ireland scored higher than the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science.
A similar number of students in Ireland, to the average across OECD countries, were top performers (Level 5 or 6) in at least one subject. At the same time a larger proportion of students than on average across OECD countries achieved a minimum level of proficiency (Level 2 or higher) in all three subjects.
What students know and can do in mathematics
In Ireland, 81% of students attained at least Level 2 proficiency in mathematics, significantly more than on average across OECD countries (OECD average: 69%). At a minimum, these students can interpret and recognize, without direct instructions, how a simple situation can be represented mathematically (e.g. comparing the total distance across two alternative routes, or converting prices into a different currency). Over 85% of students in Singapore, Macao (China), Japan, Hong Kong (China)*, Chinese Taipei and Estonia (in descending order of that share) performed at this level or above.
Some 7% of students in Ireland were top performers in mathematics, meaning that they attained Level 5 or 6 in the PISA mathematics test (OECD average: 9%). Six Asian countries and economies had the largest shares of students who did so: Singapore (41%), Chinese Taipei (32%), Macao (China) (29%), Hong Kong (China)* (27%), Japan (23%) and Korea (23%). At these levels, students can model complex situations mathematically, and can select, compare and evaluate appropriate problem-solving strategies for dealing with them. Only in 16 out of 81 countries and economies participating in PISA 2022 did more than 10% of students attain Level 5 or 6 proficiency.
What students know and can do in reading
Some 89% of students in Ireland attained Level 2 or higher in reading (OECD average: 74%). At a minimum, these students can identify the main idea in a text of moderate length, find information based on explicit, though sometimes complex criteria, and can reflect on the purpose and form of texts when explicitly directed to do so. The share of 15-year-old students who attained minimum levels of proficiency in reading (Level 2 or higher) varied from 89% in Singapore to 8% in Cambodia.
In Ireland, 10% of students scored at Level 5 or higher in reading (OECD average: 7%). These students can comprehend lengthy texts, deal with concepts that are abstract or counterintuitive, and establish distinctions between fact and opinion, based on implicit cues pertaining to the content or source of the information.
What students know and can do in science
Some 84% of students in Ireland attained Level 2 or higher in science (OECD average: 76%). At a minimum, these students can recognize the correct explanation for familiar scientific phenomena and can use such knowledge to identify, in simple cases, whether a conclusion is valid based on the data provided.
In Ireland, 8% of students were top performers in science, meaning that they were proficient at Level 5 or 6 (OECD average: 7%). These students can creatively and autonomously apply their knowledge of and about science to a wide variety of situations, including unfamiliar ones.
Gender differences in performance
Boys outperformed girls in mathematics by 13 score points; girls outperformed boys in reading by 18 score points in Ireland. Globally, in mathematics, boys outperformed girls in 40 countries and economies, girls outperformed boys in another 17 countries or economies, and no significant difference was found in the remaining 24. In reading, girls, on average, scored above boys in all but two countries and economies that participated in PISA 2022 (79 out of 81).
In Ireland, the share of low performers is similar among boys (19%) and girls (20%) in mathematics; in reading, however, the share is larger among boys (8% of girls and 14% of boys scored below Level 2 in reading). When it comes to top performers, the share is larger among boys (10%) than among girls (5%) in mathematics; in reading, however, the share is similar among girls (11% of girls and 9% of boys scored at Level 5 or 6 in reading).
Between 2012 and 2022, performance in mathematics declined to a similar extent among boys and girls in Ireland.
In Ireland, 66% of students reported that, in most mathematics lessons, the teacher shows an interest in every student’s learning (OECD average: 63%), and 74% that the teacher gives extra help when students need it (OECD average: 70%). In 2012, the corresponding shares were 67% and 73%. Mathematics results in 2022 tended to decline less, on average, in education systems where more students reported that teachers give extra help when students need it, compared to ten years earlier.
Some students study mathematics in a disciplinary climate that is not favourable to learning: in 2022, about 18% of students in Ireland reported that they cannot work well in most or all lessons (OECD average: 23%); 29% of students do not listen to what the teacher says (OECD average: 30%); 20% of students get distracted using digital devices (OECD average: 30%); and 16% get distracted by other students who are using digital devices (OECD average: 25%). On average across OECD countries, students were less likely to report getting distracted using digital devices when the use of cell phones on school premises is banned.
Parental involvement in learning
PISA data collected from school principals show that the percentage of parents who were involved in school and learning decreased substantially between 2018 and 2022 in many countries/economies. This was not the case in Ireland. In 2022, 14% of students in Ireland were in schools whose principal reported that during the previous academic year at least half of all families discussed their child’s progress with a teacher on their own initiative (and 34% on the teacher’s initiative). In 2018, the corresponding number was 23% (and 38%). Systems that had more positive trends in parental involvement between 2018 and 2022 (i.e. systems in which the share of parents who discussed their child’s progress with a teacher on their own initiative shrank less) tended to show more stable or improved performance in mathematics.
Learning during COVID-related school closures
In Ireland, 80% of students reported that their school building was closed for more than three months due to COVID-19. On average across OECD countries, 51% of students experienced similarly long school closures. In education systems where performance remained high and students’ sense of belonging improved, fewer students experienced longer school closures.
During remote learning, 39% of students in Ireland had problems at least once a week with understanding school assignments and 25% of students with finding someone who could help them with schoolwork (OECD averages: 34% and 24%). In education systems where performance remained high and students’ sense of belonging improved, fewer students encountered problems during remote learning.
Support for students’ well-being was often limited when their schools were closed. In Ireland, 69% of students reported that they were supported daily through live virtual classes on a video communication program. Only 9% of students reported that they were asked daily, by someone from the school, how they were feeling (OECD averages: 51% and 13%).
If school buildings have to close again in the future, many students across the OECD feel confident about using digital technology for learning remotely but fewer students feel confident about taking responsibility for their own learning. Some 81% of students in Ireland feel confident or very confident about using a video communication program and 48% of students feel confident or very confident about motivating themselves to do school work (OECD averages: 77% and 58%).
Resources invested in education
Expenditure on education is related to student performance only to a certain extent. Among the countries/economies whose cumulative expenditure per student, over all primary and secondary school years between the ages of 6 and 15, was under USD 75 000 (PPP) in 2019, higher expenditure on education was associated with higher scores in the PISA mathematics test. But this was not the case among countries/economies whose cumulative expenditure was greater than USD 75 000 (PPP). For this latter group of countries/economies, the ways in which financial resources are used seems to matter more for student performance than the level of investment in education. In Ireland, the cumulative expenditure per student, over ten years of age between 6 and 15, was equivalent to about USD 94 200 (PPP).
In about half of all countries/economies with comparable data, school principals in 2022 were more likely than their counterparts in 2018 to report a shortage of teaching staff. This was also the case in Ireland. In 2022, 68% of students in Ireland were in schools whose principal reported that the school’s capacity to provide instruction is hindered by a lack of teaching staff (and 31%, by inadequate or poorly qualified teaching staff). In 2018, the corresponding proportions were 45% and 11%. In most countries/economies, students attending schools whose principal reported shortages of teaching staff scored lower in mathematics than students in schools whose principal reported fewer or no shortages of teaching staff.
How students progress through schooling
When they sat the PISA test in 2022, 57% of 15-year-old students in Ireland were enrolled in 10th grade.
In Ireland, 95% reported that they had attended pre-primary education for one year or more (OECD average: 94%). On average across OECD countries, students who had attended pre-primary education for one year or more scored higher in mathematics at the age of 15 than students who never attended or who had attended for less than one year, even after accounting for socio-economic factors.
Some 4% of students in Ireland reported that they had repeated a grade at least once (OECD average: 9%) after entering primary school. Grade repetition tends to be less prevalent in high performing systems.
