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The three-yearly OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) assessments provide an opportunity to monitor the performance of Australian students in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy. In particular, the assessments allow examination of the performance of particular equity groups and to look at how well particular groups of 15-year-old students, approaching the end of their compulsory schooling are prepared for meeting the challenges they will face in their lives beyond school. A special focus for Australia has been to ensure that there is a sufficiently large sample of Australia's Indigenous students so that valid and reliable analysis can be conducted. This has been achieved in each cycle of PISA and this report presents analyses of the achievement of Indigenous students in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy in each of the cycles. Achievement is presented in two ways in this report: in terms of mean scores and in terms of proficiency levels. Across the three PISA cycles, Indigenous students have performed at a substantially and statistically lower average level in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy than their non-Indigenous peers. Only 12 per cent of Indigenous students were able to achieve the highest levels of reading literacy, and no more than five per cent achieved the highest level in mathematical and scientific literacy. Significant gender differences were found between Indigenous males and females in reading literacy, favouring Indigenous females. The performance of Australian Indigenous students in PISA continues to raise concerns about the educational disadvantage faced by these students. From an international perspective, they are performing well below the OECD average and from a national perspective, they are achieving well below the performance of non-Indigenous students. The results from the three PISA assessments have shown that the performance of Indigenous students has not improved over time. These results suggest that initiatives to improve the education of Indigenous students through educational policy have to date had little effect. In terms of real-life functioning and future opportunities, Indigenous students remain at a substantial disadvantage. Show less

In 1997, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) launched the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA was the result of a desire by governments to monitor the outcomes of education systems in terms of student achievement on a regular basis and within an internationally accepted common framework. This report focuses on Australia's results from PISA 2006 in the areas of scientific literacy, reading literacy and mathematical literacy. Chapters three, five and six are devoted to each of these respectively. Chapter two provides an overview of the context for science education in Australia and focuses on how students are assessed in science for PISA 2006. Chapter four examines student attitudes, motivations and engagement influencing scientific literacy performance, chapter seven looks at the relationship between socioeconomic background and achievement, and chapter eight summarises this report. Show less

Results from international programs that assess the skills and knowledge of young people have indicated that Australia's Indigenous students perform at a significantly lower level than non-Indigenous students. An in-depth comparison of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students' performance on the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) across three cycles is provided in an accompanying volume to this report, while the current report provides an understanding of how various aspects of students' background and psychological constructs relate to each other and to student performance. Chapters two through five each focus on a different group of potential influences on the performance of students, comparing the profiles of Indigenous and non-Indigenous students, while chapter six presents results of multivariate analyses that assess which factors have a significant impact on the reading, mathematics and scientific literacy of Indigenous students.

Excerpt from publication. Show less