Programme for International Student Assessment – PISA

Published on Friday, 21 January 2011 09:33

PISA is co-ordinated by the OECD.

In the study, 15-year old pupils are tested on their abilities to read (comprehension and text analysis), mathematics and science. The study started in 2000 and has been carried out in three-year cycles. The methodology allows comparison within each subject area in time. In each cycle, a particular ability is chosen as the main focus. In 2000 this was reading, in 2003 mathematics and in 2006 it was science. The results for reading obtained in 2009 will provide a deeper understanding of changes that have occurred between 2000 and 2009.

The PISA study is run under the same conditions in each country, i.e. using the same questionnaires and instruments to measure ability. The study is able to discriminate defined measured abilities. The basis of the construction of the instruments is not the school curriculum (as in TIMSS). The tests are constructed on the basis of what international experts agree that each student leaving general education should know, be able and work out to do, in order to function in the modern world.