David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 146: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if, with reference to the programme of international student assessment 2009 assessment, consideration was given when evaluating the different countries scores and ranking, to the increase, since 2000, in the number of pupils taking the reading literacy assessment whose first language was not English; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39845/11]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 147: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if, with reference to the programme of international student assessment 2009 assessment, consideration was given when evaluating the different countries scores and ranking, to the increase, since 2000, in the number of pupils taking the reading literacy assessment who have special educational needs; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39846/11]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if, with reference to the programme of international student assessment 2009 assessment, consideration was given when evaluating the different countries scores and ranking, to the increase, since 2000, in the number of pupils taking the reading literacy assessment from disadvantaged schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [39847/11]

Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 146 to 148, inclusive, together.

In 2009 students in 65 countries/economics, including Ireland, participated in the assessment, making PISA 2009 the largest international survey of education to date. The overall mean score of students in Ireland in the 2009 study was 495.6 compared with 526.7 in 2000. The survey was constructed in a manner to ensure a nationally representative sample taking account of school type, size, gender, and socioeconomic composition. Therefore disadvantage was taken account of in the construction of the sample, but special needs and migrant students for whom English is not the mother tongue were not part of the sample construct.

The study included questions on immigrant status (first or second generation migrants) and language spoken at home, so that the scores of such pupils are identified separately. In Ireland, the key difference is not between native and migrant students, but rather between native students and those for whom English or Irish is not the mother tongue. In Ireland the percentage of students with immigrant status rose from 2.3% in 2000 to 8.3% in 2009, and the proportion who spoke a language other than English or Irish at home rose from 0.9% to 3.6%.The mean score of students who spoke another language was 532.8 in 2000 and 443.9 in 2009. The socioeconomic status of such students was similar to the national profile in 2009, but was significantly higher than the national profile in 2000.

The study also gives separate data on the mean scores of students with high, average and low socioeconomic status. In 2000 just over one quarter of students attended schools designated as disadvantaged under the Department's Disadvantaged Areas Schools Scheme. DEIS was introduced in 2005, and in the 2009 study, 23.7% of participants attended schools in the Schools Support Programme of DEIS. The mean scores in 2009 for those with high, average and low socioeconomic status were 535.5, 497.9 and 459.5 respectively. The mean scores of such students in 2000 were 558.6, 529.0 and 492.5 respectively. While a third of pupils fell within each socioeconomic category in 2009, the proportions in 2000 indicated 38.1% of students had high socioeconomic status, 28% had average status and 30.7% had low socioeconomic status.

The PISA study did not identify separately the proportion and scores of students included in the study who had a disability. However, a team of international experts identified the decline in PISA results since 2000 in Ireland as partially due to the growth in the number of migrant students for whom English is not the mother tongue, the inclusion of greater numbers of students with special needs in mainstream education, a decline in early school leaving, the random inclusion of 8 schools in the survey with very low levels of achievement, and survey fatigue.