PISA

Key Findings for U.S. Science Education

1. Average Performance Compared to Peers

• U.S. students typically score around the OECD average in science.

• They consistently trail top-performing systems such as Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Finland, Canada, Estonia.

• The U.S. has not shown sustained improvement in science scores over time.
  
  

2. Wide Achievement Gaps

• The U.S. displays larger disparities in science performance than many peer nations.

• Gaps are strongly associated with:

  • Socioeconomic status

  • Race and ethnicity

  • Access to high-quality schools and resources

• High-performing U.S. students compete well internationally, but lower-performing students fall far behind, pulling down averages.
  
  

3. Strength in High Achievers, Weakness in Basic Proficiency

• The U.S. has a reasonable share of top-level science performers.

• At the same time, a substantial proportion of students fail to reach basic science proficiency, meaning they struggle with:

  • Interpreting scientific data

  • Explaining everyday phenomena using science

  • Evaluating scientific claims
    
    

4. Emphasis on Knowledge Over Application

• PISA emphasizes scientific reasoning and real-world application, not memorization.

• U.S. students tend to perform better on content recall than on:

  • Designing investigations

  • Interpreting evidence

  • Applying science concepts to unfamiliar situations
    
    

• This suggests a misalignment between U.S. instruction and PISA’s applied focus.
  
  

5. Student Attitudes vs. Outcomes

• U.S. students often report:

  • High interest in science

  • Confidence in their abilities

• However, this confidence does not consistently translate into strong performance, indicating possible overestimation of mastery or uneven instructional quality.
  
  

6. Inequitable Access to Quality Science Instruction

• PISA-related analyses point to:

  • Unequal access to experienced science teachers

  • Variation in lab resources and hands-on learning opportunities

• Schools serving disadvantaged students are less likely to offer rigorous, inquiry-based science instruction.
  
  

Implications for American Science Education

PISA findings suggest that improving U.S. science outcomes requires:

• Reducing inequality across schools and student groups

• Strengthening scientific reasoning, inquiry, and problem-solving

• Ensuring consistent instructional quality, not just excellence for a subset of students

• Aligning curriculum and assessment more closely with real-world scientific application