Are The PISA Education Results Rigged?

Are The PISA Education Results Rigged?:

Are The PISA Education Results Rigged?

The results of the most recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) are out, and again reveal students from East Asian countries dominate in maths and sciences. The assessment, run by the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) every three years, tested around 540,000 15-year-old students in 72 countries and economies on science, reading, maths and collaborative problem-solving. In 2015, students from Singapore performed the best, followed by Japan, Estonia, Chinese Taipei, Finland, Macao (China), Canada, Vietnam, Hong Kong (China) and B-S-J-G (China).



 Western countries fared far worse, with concerns over declining educational standards seemingly confirmed. The U.S., the world's favorite destination for international university students, saw its scores remain close to the OECD average on each category. The 5,700 15-year-olds who took the test scored 496 in science and 497 in reading, and 470 in math—close to the OECD averages of 493, 493 and 490 respectively.

Some argue this may herald a new era of creative thinking in Asia, and look to replicate an Asian model of learning. Others point to a culture in Asia which values education highly and is driven by “Tiger Moms” who push their children to excel in their studies. In Vietnam, some students are reportedly too busy with school and studying to take meals at home and eat while on motorbikes. Still others argue government investment in educational infrastructure, such as building more schools and attracting the best teachers, yields the greatest results. But before we accept the results at face value, we should delve Are The PISA Education Results Rigged?: