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PISA 2022 Results: The State of Learning and Equity in Education
by Organizația pentru Cooperare și Dezvoltare Economică · 2023 · 1 reading card
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PISA 2022 Results: The State of Learning and Equity in Education · 2023
If they cannot summarise in their own words, they have not understood — whatever the mark.
The test is taken at fifteen in three domains — reading, mathematics, science — and every item starts from a text or a situation outside the textbook. In the 2022 round Romania sat around forty per cent of pupils below the baseline level in both mathematics and reading, meaning pupils who can read the words but cannot draw a conclusion from a one-page text. The term used publicly is functional illiteracy and it describes exactly that. What moves the needle, according to cross-country data, in order of effect. One, reading comprehension, which drags the mathematics score along with it, because problems are worded. Two, time spent at school in real cognitive activity rather than copying from the board. Three, the expectations of the surrounding adults, which appear consistently as a predictor independent of income. Four, the absence of punishment for error, because transfer requires attempts. What you can do at home in twenty minutes a day without waiting for a reform. One, have them retell in their own words what they read; if they cannot summarise they have not understood, whatever the mark. Two, ask questions of the kind "how do you know" and "what if". Three, give them real texts — a bill, an article, a contract — and ask for a conclusion. Four, ask them to explain a maths problem with a drawing rather than a formula. Five, let them be wrong at no cost, because that is the condition for transfer.
“PISA does not check whether pupils memorised the syllabus. It checks whether they can use what they learned in a situation they have not seen before — and the difference between the two is everything.”