PISA: Setting Record Straight

Binomial formulas, the subjunctive, photosynthesis - if students perform poorly on the PISA test, schools must have failed to teach the prescribed curriculum adequately. While this conclusion may seem obvious, it is incorrect. PISA addresses a different question: Do 15-year-olds nearing the end of compulsory schooling have the fundamental competencies to apply them in real-life situations? "We do not test factual knowledge," says Prof. Samuel Greiff , head of the German PISA study and chair of the ZIB board of directors. "We examine whether adolescents have the skills needed to navigate today's world of life and work. For example, can they use mathematics to make sense of the world around them?"

Mathematics, reading, and science form the core domains of the study. "PISA has never claimed to cover the entire range of school subjects," Greiff explains. "It focuses on foundational competencies and cross-disciplinary skills that are essential across all areas of life." For the first time in the current cycle, English - arguably the most important foreign language - is also being assessed. Since 2012, each cycle has included an additional innovative domain, such as creative thinking, collaborative problem solving, or learning in the digital world. Why, then, are sciences included, but not history? Humanities competencies are often more closely tied to cultural context and are therefore harder to compare internationally. Furthermore, PISA does not evaluate subject-specific knowledge, such as the periodic table. Instead, PISA examines scientific literacy. Do students think critically, test hypotheses, and draw logical conclusions? Can they process information systematically and analyze the world using scientific reasoning?

Critics argue that PISA promotes an economically utilitarian view of schooling in Germany, a country known as the "land of poets and thinkers," by focusing on practical application rather than the Humboldtian ideal of education. "The emphasis on application competencies is not about optimizing children as economic assets," counters Greiff. "It's about enabling self-determined participation in society. A person that is unable to read or understand numbers will struggle in almost any profession." What is often overlooked, he says, is that PISA also surveys students about their well-being, the school climate, and the support they receive from teachers and parents. The survey asks students if they enjoy learning and if they feel that school is equipping them with relevant skills for their future lives. By collecting sociodemographic data, such as family income, educational background, and migration status, the study sheds light on students facing disadvantaged starting conditions. "Each society must decide which learning goals to pursue and how to achieve them. PISA provides substantial evidence to inform those decisions."

Whenever new PISA results are released, attention immediately turns to country rankings. How many places has Germany moved up or down? Have top performers maintained their lead? "We should be cautious about viewing the list as a simple ranking," warns Greiff. Differences in scores may be statistically insignificant and therefore not meaningful. "Furthermore, the assumption that 'whoever ranks above us has a better school system' is overly simplistic - PISA does not evaluate entire education systems." Nevertheless, international comparisons offer valuable insights. Finland is frequently highlighted. "In Finland, nearly every child receives individualized support at some point during their schooling. In Germany, by contrast, needing additional support is often stigmatized, and so, it is difficult to access." Direct policy transfer, however, is rarely effective. "Copy-and-paste solutions do not work. The key is to identify what functions well elsewhere and draw inspiration from it."

"We were all frustrated when we saw the most recent PISA results ," Greiff recalls. Germany had fallen back to levels seen in the early 2000s - or even below. Following the first "PISA shock," substantial reforms were introduced, including new teaching methods, expanded full-day schooling programs, and changes to teacher education. Performance improved and remained solid until the mid-2010s. "Unfortunately, a certain complacency set in," Greiff notes. "Support programs expired, and many research-based insights into effective schooling were not implemented nationwide." Recent years have also posed significant challenges, particularly due to the pandemic. "What concerns me most is that approximately half of adolescents report that classroom instruction is irrelevant to their lives. We are losing students, and that ultimately manifests itself in declining performance."

This second shock too has prompted action. Several German states have initiated reforms, citing the results. Bavaria, for example, has increased instructional time for German and mathematics at the primary level. "Still, we could leverage the findings more systematically," Greiff emphasizes. "In Canada, classroom instruction has continuously improved using data for many years." Learning from other countries in that regard could address one problem that has indeed persisted: in Germany, students' competencies are more strongly linked to their families' socioeconomic status than in many other countries. "If PISA has demonstrated anything," Greiff concludes, "it is that high performance and educational equity are both possible."