Ironies of education report reporting

Here's a small sampling of Canadian press coverage of a newly released OECD assessment of education in various nations.

Today's Globe and Mail dourly reports that Canada is

• #7 in math,
• #3 in reading, and
• #11 in science:

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International tests in reading, math and science show that Canadian teenagers have slipped in the rankings during the past three years despite efforts across the country to boost academic performance.

Over all, Canada ranked third in reading, seventh in math and 11th in science in a comprehensive survey conducted last year in 41 countries and released yesterday by the Paris-based Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

["Canadian students fall back in OECD tests"]

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Today's Toronto Star, by contrast, cheerfully announces that Canada is

• #3 (tied with 7 others) in math,
• #2 in reading, and
• Canada's science score isn't mentioned:

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Canada has scored third out of 41 countries on a global test of math skills, partly because it does so well helping children of all backgrounds to succeed, a study shows.

Only Finland and Hong Kong did better, though seven other countries tied with Canada on the second international test of 15-year-olds, administered last year by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development....

Canada ... held its second-place spot in reading.

["International math test scores Canada third"]

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What are the actual rankings? Well, they don't leap out. Education performance is a complex subject.