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Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Education Research Report: New PISA 2012 First Look Report Shows U.S. Student Performance in an International Context

Education Research Report: New PISA 2012 First Look Report Shows U.S. Student Performance in an International Context:





New PISA 2012 First Look Report Shows U.S. Student Performance in an International Context



Performance of U.S. 15-Year-Old Students in an International Context: First Look at PISA 2012 presents U.S. results from the 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The goal of PISA is to assess students’ preparation for the challenges of life as young adults. The assessment measures mathematics, science, and reading literacy of 15-year-old students around the world. In 2012, 65 education systems—including the 34 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)—participated in PISA. In addition, three U.S. states—Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts—participated in PISA 2012.

Key findings include:

• Overall, there was no measurable change in U.S. average scores in mathematics, science, or reading literacy between 2012 and any of the previous U.S. PISA results.

• U.S. 15-year-old students remained below the OECD average score in mathematics literacy and not measurably different from the OECD average in science and reading literacy.

• In mathematics literacy, the U.S. had a higher percentage of low-performing and lower percentage of high-performing 15-year-old students than the OECD countries on average.

• Average scores for Massachusetts were above the OECD average in all three subjects, and only three education systems had higher average scores in reading literacy than Massachusetts.

• Connecticut had higher average scores than the OECD average in reading literacy and science literacy and was not measurably different from the OECD average in mathematics literacy.

• Florida’s average scores were below the OECD average in mathematics literacy and science literacy, but not measurably different from the OECD average in reading literacy.

The report and additional resources are available on the NCES website at: http://nces.edgov/surveys/pisa/
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