Table 4 Zero-order correlations among all variables for the 10 top performing regions in PISA 2018 (N = 80,016)

Asian regions

 B-S-J-Z (China)

12,058

 − .09**

.39**

.05**

 − .04**

.01**

.09**

.19**

.14**

 Singapore

6676

 − .11**

.38**

.00

 − .10**

.03*

.08**

.12**

.06**

 Macao

3775

 − .12**

.13**

.06**

.03*

 − .02

.01

.11**

.05*

 Hong Kong

6037

 − .17**

.21**

.04*

.01

.01**

.08**

.11**

.11**

 Korea

6650

 − .10**

.28**

.13**

.08**

 − .04*

.10**

.07**

.14**

Western Regions

 Estonia

5316

 − .18**

.26**

.09**

 − .05**

 − .01

.13**

1.01**

.13**

 Canada

22,653

 − .15**

.26**

n/a

n/a

n/a

.08**

.08**

n/a

 Finland

5649

 − .26**

.31**

.09**

 − .05**

 − .04**

.16**

.12**

.15**

 Ireland

5577

 − .12**

.33**

.03*

 − .09**

.04*

.09**

.13**

.14**

 Poland

5625

 − .17**

.34**

.00

 − .09**

.02

.10**

.11**

.08**

Total

 Asian Regions

35,196

 − .11**

.28**

.08**

.01

.02**

.10**

.15**

.11**

 Western Regions

44,820

 − .17**

.28**

.05**

 − .07**

 − .01

.09**

.09**

.12**

 All Regions

80,016

 − .14**

.24**

.08**

 − .01

.02**

.11**

.13**

.13**