PISA 2013 – OECD tests and reports
08 Dec 2013
The OECD tests and reports on student achievement in maths, reading and science and publishes results to provide international comparisons.
When the 2012 results were published in December 2013 most journalists reported that Australian student performance had declined and this led to further political and community comment on the quality of teaching, student learning, teaching methodologies, the built environment, and teacher training.
Shane Wright, economics editor for The West Australian and commentator to the ABC read the report in full and concluded that fair comparisons had not been made. Amongst his comments he pointed out that Shanghai and Hong Kong are not representative of China as a nation, and that the ACT would have ranked 4th in the world if it had been reported as a single site.
While there is great respect for the OECD and its work, we need to ask whether the schooling systems are the same, whether a representative profile has been taken and whether testing results tell the full story of work done in our schools.
The OECD publications are summarised on its web site and available for purchase.
This first volume of PISA 2012 results summarises the performance of students in mathematics, reading, and science in PISA 2012.
PISA 2012 Results: Excellence through Equity (Volume II) - Preliminary version - Giving every Student the Chance to Succeed
This second volume of PISA 2012 results defines and measures equity in education and analyses how equity in education has evolved across countries between PISA 2003 and 2012.
PISA 2012 Results: Ready to Learn (Volume III) - Preliminary version - Students' Engagement, Drive and Self-Beliefs
This third volume of PISA 2012 results explores students’ engagement with and at school, their drive and motivation to succeed, and the beliefs they hold about themselves as mathematics learners.
PISA 2012 Results: What Makes a School Successful (Volume IV) - Resources, Policies and Practices
This fourth volume of PISA 2012 results examines how student performance is associated with various characteristics of individual schools and school systems.
This report compares the performance of 15-year-olds in the United States in PISA against the global patterns and trends.
Ann Gorey
