Kiwi students near front of the class

New Zealand secondary school students are better than average at reading, mathematics and science, compared with other countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

A new report by the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) measured 15-year-old students' performance in 41 countries, including 30 from the OECD.

The report and its New Zealand companion report, Learning for Tomorrow's World, released yesterday, found that this country was in the second bracket of nations, which included Australia, for all three subjects.

But New Zealand students measured significantly lower than Hong Kong-China, Finland, Korea and the Netherlands in maths, worse than Finland in reading, and lower than Finland, Japan, Hong Kong-China and Korea in science.

The three-yearly report focused heavily on mathematics this time, and New Zealand ranked 12th.

Kiwi boys did significantly better at maths than the girls, who were still above the OECD average.

New Zealand was one of only a handful of countries where boys performed better in all mathematical measures than girls.

A higher-than-average proportion of New Zealand students also reported enjoying mathematics and they were also among the most confident and least anxious in their ability.

Compared with other countries, New Zealand showed only an average relationship between socio-economic background and performance in mathematics.

The report also found a wider-than-average range of mathematical proficiency in New Zealand.

"This suggests that educational programmes, schools and teachers may not be appropriately addressing the wide range of student knowledge and skills that exists within the New Zealand education system," it says.

Possibly the most alarming finding was that New Zealand was in the highest bracket of countries for principals reporting that a shortage of mathematics teachers was hindering learning.

Between 41 and 84 per cent of New Zealand students were at a school where the principal was concerned about a shortage of mathematics teachers (the exact percentage for New Zealand was not given).

But in general, principals in this country were positive about their schools and felt that there was little impact on learning from inadequate resources.

In reading, New Zealand ranked sixth in the 41-country list, with only Finland significantly ahead.

New Zealand girls were significantly better readers than the boys and this country was top of the OECD for reading at the highest level - 16 per cent of students. But 11 per cent were at the lowest two levels.

In science, New Zealand 15-year-olds ranked 10th, with only four countries doing significantly better.

The report also measured ability to solve problems in real life, with New Zealanders coming fifth in the world and well above the OECD average.

The report found that mothers' level of education was a better predictor of children's performance that their fathers'.

New Zealand had one of the highest proportions of students and their parents being born overseas - 13 per cent, compared with the OECD mean of 5 per cent.

Only Hong Kong-China (20 per cent), Macau-China (18 per cent) and Luxembourg (17 per cent) reported higher proportions of non-native parents and children.

Nine per cent of New Zealand students spoke a language other than English at home.

These students performed significantly worse than their peers at mathematics.

More New Zealand students than the OECD average reported that their teachers were supportive, but more also felt the disciplinary climate in classes was hindering their learning.

- NZPA