Grade seven students in Marshall Islands had mixed performance in the PILNA subjects compared with PILNA 2018. The 2021 students scored lower in numeracy, lower in reading, and higher in writing than PILNA 2018 students. Their average scores in numeracy (505) and reading (485) were lower than the scores across the region (numeracy, 531; reading, 492). Their average writing score (508) was comparable to the score across the region (507).

Over half the grade seven students (57%) are meeting the minimum expected proficiency standards in numeracy and half (51%) are meeting them in reading.  Minimum expected proficiency levels for writing have not yet been established but writing performance is increasing.

In grade seven, girls scored higher on average than boys in numeracy (girls, 511; boys, 501), reading (girls, 499; boys, 473) and writing (girls, 517; boys, 501). Also, more girls were meeting the minimum expected proficiency level than boys in reading (girls, 58%; boys, 44%), and in numeracy (girls, 61%; boys, 53%).

Grade seven students in non-government schools scored higher on average in numeracy (government, 498; non-government, 544), reading (government, 476; non-government, 532), and writing (government, 504; non-government, 531) than did students in government schools.

Grade seven students in non-urban schools scored, on average, similarly in numeracy (urban, 506; non-urban, 505), higher in writing (urban, 506; non-urban, 517), and lower in reading (urban, 487; non-urban, 479) than did students in urban schools.

Experiential and environmental data, as outlined in the contextual sections, may provide some insights into the reasons for these performance trends.