PISA 2019 results - some reflections

The latest Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA) results are out. Carried out every 3 years since 2000, the number of countries participating has increased at each iteration. The assessment was carried out with 15 year olds in 2018 for 3 subjects - reading, maths and science and included survey of student attitudes to study and their school experiences.

Various countries reported on their country's results, most defending their results and offering critique of the type of assessment process being used to quantify school students' learning.
China, pipped Singapore  for top spot. NZ schooling has always fared quite well  but there was a drop in the ratings across all three subjects, similar to the results from other similar countries - Australia, Uk (slight rise) and the U S of A.

Mass hand wringing from parents and 'teacher blaming' ensue as a result of the PISA results, leading to some governments working towards supporting policies to improve results. In NZ, the top students perform at as high a level as in other countries, but the difference between the strugglers and the top strata, is wide. Closing this gap across the almost 20 years PISA has been running has been a challenge as social equity has declined across many countries across the same timeframe.

PISA results also do not account for the wider emphasis in many countries on wider competencies and skills required to be learnt. There is a place of 'drill and repeat' processes in the learning of fundamental skills but PISA does also test beyond these with questions that challenge students beyond 'set answers'.

However, the future of work does not depend on school leavers being able to be exam savvy or able to perform well in a test environment. Future workers need the skills to be resilient, flexible and able to continually learn, un-learn, re-learn and innovate. Having good reading and maths skills provide a good foundation. Reading, especially the ability to quickly understand, interpret, evaluate and operationalise (if that is the case) processes, concepts and complex information is a key to future success. So, as always, PISA ratings need to be taken circumspectly and are not always good predictors of future learners' success.