Table CRT4.1 shows the Cook Islands’ distribution of year four reading scores against the PILNA reading proficiency scale. This scale converts a student’s reading performance into a level ranking from zero to eight. The expected minimum reading performance for year four students is proficiency level four. Pacific stakeholders expect these students to reach or exceed this proficiency level.

The average performance of year four students in Cook Islands in reading was 458.08 (SD = 113.11). This corresponds to proficiency level three on the PILNA reading proficiency scale (level three is assigned to scores 437.5–462.5). On average, year four students in Cook Islands are not meeting the minimum expected standard in reading, although they have a higher average reading score than the average regional score of 444.30 (SD = 82.66).

The average reading score does not tell us the whole story. The proportion of students who are meeting the minimum expected standard is also important. Approximately 50% of students, just over half, performed at or above this expected level (levels 5–8) in Cook Islands. Conversely, just under 50% of students performed below the expected proficiency level (levels 0–4). In other words, half of year four students are meeting the minimum expected level for reading but the other half are yet to meet the minimum expected proficiency level.

The Small Island States saw a similar number of year four students performing at or above the minimum expected level for reading (50%) to Cook Islands (50%) but Cook Islands saw a greater proportion of year four students doing so than at the regional level (43%), Table CRT4.2