The PISA

What is PISA?

PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment, a global evaluation conducted by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It assesses the performance of 15-year-old students in various countries every three years to measure how well they are prepared to apply their knowledge and skills to real-world challenges. 

Why is PISA important and what are the benefits of participating? PISA provides a unique opportunity for the country to understand how well students nearing the end of compulsory education are prepared to enter the workforce or post-secondary education in comparison to their peers from more than 80 countries. Through participating in PISA, schools and students contribute to ongoing efforts to improve education in our country. PISA helps identify U.S. students’ strengths and weaknesses in the domains of mathematics, reading, science, and financial literacy and offers insights into successful policies and practices in other countries. 

What do PISA questions look like? Some items require students to select from among possible responses, while others require students to solve problems and provide written answers. Examples of PISA assessment questions are available at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/ educators.asp and https://www.oecd.org/pisa/pisaproducts/ pisa-test-questions.htm.