CREDIT: Ed Kaiser, The Journal An international study says Alberta students like these outshine their Canadian peers and rank among the world's best in math, reading, science and problem solving.

EDMONTON - A new international study says Alberta's 15-year-old students not only outshine their peers across Canada but also rank among the world's best in math, reading, science and problem solving.

The study, released Monday by the Council of Ministers of Education and Statistics Canada, tested students in 41 countries and showed Alberta's teens placed second in math and reading, fourth in science and problem solving.

In every subject they handily beat their peers in Canada's nine other provinces. In math, for example, Alberta teens ranked second to Hong Kong-China, while Canada ranked seventh.

"We have exceptional teachers who want to spend time with their students and ensure the students learn," Edmonton Catholic Schools spokeswoman Lori Nagy said.

"We have incredible students, too -- they certainly deserve some credit.

"And the parents who are obviously giving their children an environment that is conducive to learning. That is part of the puzzle, too."

The international study, called Measuring Up, was initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and implemented by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

Alberta's 15-year-olds accomplished the same academic feat on PISA's first test in 2000.

The organization tests students every three years to gain a better understanding of what 15-year-old students know around the world.

In Canada, roughly 28,000 high school students from more than 1,000 schools took the two-hour test in spring last year.

The students were tested in all four subject areas and each completed a background questionnaire. Parents answered survey questions by telephone and school principals completed questionnaires about their schools.

"The system is performing pretty well," Statistics Canada spokesman Scott Murray said Monday, noting that studies like these help provinces and schools learn from one another.

"This is essentially good news, but we need to temper that with some questions about what levels of skills we need to have a thriving economy and good society."

The PISA study showed that while Alberta's boys consistently do better in math than girls, the girls put the boys to shame in reading, beating them by an average of 32 points. That pattern holds in every country except Liechtenstein.

The study also noted that students whose parents have better jobs, higher education and more resources at home perform better in math, as do students who have confidence in their skills.

Alberta parents reported higher levels of education and better jobs than parents in other provinces. All of Alberta's students, however, are doing well.

"The picture of Canada is pretty stable in terms of overall results," Andreas Schleicher, OECD's head of educational indicators, said.

"It (has) a strong overall performance, but manages to keep quality differences among schools in a reasonable range, and manages quite well to deal with socio-economic backgrounds.

"The impact of background factors on success is smaller than other countries, and that's a very important result in today's world."

kkleiss@thejournal.canwest.com