While the Finnish educational system is well known for its fairly high student performance, we can still find many inequalities in the educational system across the country. There are differences in educational outcomes between the two parallel educational systems in Finland (the Swedish and the Finnish –language ones) as shown by both national and international assessments. But there is also areal variation in student performance across the country.

In this further study we use PISA 2009 data. PISA measures 15-year-old students’ proficiency in three domains - mathematics, science and reading literacy - in about 65 participating countries across the world. The assessment takes place in 3-year cycles and the results give us an opportunity to monitor changes in student achievement and other features. The main focus in PISA 2009 was on reading literacy, which was thus allotted with most testing time. In this study, we apply two-stage linear modelling and spatial statistical methods for the PISA 2009 data, in order to reveal possible regional accumulation of students’ test performance and school grades.

Our aim in this study is to compare students’ reading literacy scores and their actual school grades in mother tongue and literature. Using a Kriging method we have produced contour maps, which help us detect areal and local differences in student performance.

Harju-Luukkainen, H., & Vettenranta, J. (2013). The Influence of Local Culture on Students' Educational Outcomes. In Tirri, K., & Kuusisto, E. (Eds.), Interaction in Educational Domains. (Pages 77-90). Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. Harju-Luukkainen, H. & Nissinen, K. (2011). Finlandssvenska 15-åriga elevers resultatnivå i PISA 2009 –undersökningen. 15 – year old students’ educational outcome in PISA 2009 –assessment in Swedish –language schools Finnish Institute for Educational Research. University of Jyväskylä. Jyväskylän yliopistopaino: Jyväskylä. Harju-Luukkainen, H. & Hellgren, J. (2013). Kansalliset ja kansainväliset arvioinnit nostavat esiin kehittämisen kohteita ruotsinkielisessä peruskoulussa. National and international assessments highlight developmental objects in Swedish –language schools in Finland In Tainio, L. & Harju-Luukkainen, H. (Eds.), Kaksikielinen koulu – tulevaisuuden monikielinen Suomi. Tvåspråkig skola – ett flerspråkigt Finland i framtiden. Bilingual school – Multilingual Finland in the future (Pp. 245-270). Suomen kasvatustieteellinen seura. Kasvatusalan tutkimuksia 62. Jyväskylän yliopistopaino: Jyväskylä. Isaaks, E.H. & Srivastava, R.M. (1989). Applied Geostatistics. New York: Oxford University Press. OECD (2010a). PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do – Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science (Volume I). OECD: Paris. OECD (2010b). PISA 2009 Results: Overcoming Social Background – Equity in Learning Opportunities and Outcomes (Volume II). OECD: Paris. Vettenranta, J., & Harju-Luukkainen, H. (2013). A New Way of Recognizing the Spatial Distribution of Educational Issues: Regional Variation of Science Literacy in the Finnish TIMSS 2011 Data. IN: 5th IEA International Research Conference: TIMSS