Table CRT5.1 shows Marshall Islands’ distribution of grade five 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 grade five students is proficiency level four. Pacific stakeholders expect these students to reach or exceed this proficiency level.

The average performance of grade five students in Marshall Islands in reading was 439.08 (SD = 92.78). This corresponds to the lower end of proficiency level three on the PILNA reading proficiency scale (level three is assigned to scores 437.5–462.5), Figure CRF5.9. On average, grade five students in Marshall Islands are not meeting the minimum expected standard in reading.

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, as this statistic shows how many students are performing at or above the minimum expected level. This is shown in Table CRT5.2. Approximately 40% of grade five students in Marshall Islands were performing at or above the minimum expected level in reading (levels 4–8). The majority of grade five students, 60%, were not meeting the minimum expected level of performance in reading (levels 0–3). This includes a significant proportion of grade five students scoring at level zero (21%), the lowest level on the reading scale.

Across the region, approximately 43% of grade five students performed at or above the expected proficiency level in reading compared to approximately 40% in Marshall Islands.  This means that Marshall Islands has a similar proportion of grade five students performing at or above the expected level of reading to the region as a whole.