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Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Study: Variation in Literacy Skills among Canadian Provinces

2000

This new study, Variation in Literacy Skills among Canadian Provinces, examines the large variation of the average literacy skills of 15-year-old students among the provinces.

The average reading performance for New Brunswick, the lowest-performing province, was very close to the average of 500 for the member nations of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The average for Alberta, the highest-scoring province, was comparable to that of Finland, which had the highest literacy of all of the OECD countries.

The study, prepared by Professor J. Douglas Willms of the University of New Brunswick, shows that while a student's socio-economic background is a key factor, it accounted for less than half of the variation in provincial literacy scores.

There are many schools with students of poorer economic backgrounds that have exceptionally high performance in reading literacy. Similarly, there are some schools that do not perform well, even though they have a student population with a more advantaged socio-economic background. These findings show that there are exemplary schools in every province that do well regardless of the socio-economic background of the students they serve.

Provinces differed considerably in the relative literacy performance among schools with students of differing socio-economic backgrounds. For example, Quebec's average reading performance was high because it had disproportionately more schools with students of average socio-economic backgrounds scoring in the top range.

In contrast, Alberta's average reading performance was relatively high because its student population came from a relatively advantaged background.

In general, students from higher socio-economic backgrounds tend to have higher literacy skills than other students. However, students from poorer socio-economic backgrounds have better literacy skills if they attend a school that also serves students from more advantaged socio-economic backgrounds.

Furthermore, the relationship between socio-economic background and student performance in literacy is stronger in schools with a student population primarily from poorer socio-economic backgrounds.

These findings provide strong evidence that when the socio-economic backgrounds of students differ greatly between schools, the disparity in performance in literacy between students with different economic backgrounds increases.

The study analysed data from the 2000 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which interviewed 15-year-old students in 32 member nations of the OECD. In Canada, about 30,000 15-year-olds from more than 1,000 schools participated.

The PISA 2000 survey included a direct assessment of student skills through reading, mathematics and science tests, as well as questionnaires that collected background information from students and principals. Measures of socio-economic background were derived from data on the education levels attained and the occupations of the students' parents, as well as the family's possessions.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey numbers, including related surveys, 5058 and 5060.

The study Variation in Literacy Skills among Canadian Provinces, 2000, no. 12 (81-595-MIE2004012, free) is now available online.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (1-800-307-3382; 613-951-7608; fax: 613-951-9040; educationstats@statcan.gc.ca), Centre for Education Statistics.



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Date Modified: 2004-07-14 Important Notices