Is PISA the trend we need?
Trends, are the developments in a general direction which are often in vogue and many people try to follow them to some extent. However, did anyone stop to think about whether these trends are really the thing we need?
What is Pisa?
PISA or Programme for International Student Assessment is an international study which aims to evaluate education systems worldwide by testing the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old school students. Students from more than 70 countries have participated in the assessment since 2000. On a triennial basis fifteen-year-old school students from randomly selected schools all over the world take tests in three subject areas which are reading, mathematics and science. In each year of assessment there is a focus on one subject. In addition, the tested school students and their school principals also fill in background questionnaires to provide information on the school students’ family background and the way their schools are run. In some countries also parents fill in a questionnaire.
The results of the PISA tests are then compiled into worldwide data, where educational systems are compared with each other based on the students’ results. This in turn leads to a ranking of national education systems. PISA studies are used to improve educational systems in all the participating countries, therefore their results are influential. No country wants to be the worst, and thus aim at improving their education. This means improving the aspects that can be measured through the studies. Source: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/aboutpisa/
OBESSU believes the focus of the PISA tests is too narrow as it only evaluates a certain set of skills and leaves others out. It does not consider the learning process itself and does not take school students’ needs or interests into account. PISA neither sees to the learning environment, nor the mental health and wellbeing of the students.
What’s the purpose of the test if it doesn’t show us the real picture?
The main aim of each state and each school should be to provide high-quality education and they should be able to provide a good social learning environment in order to make sure that all students feel safe and comfortable in order to carry their studies.
Therefore, OBESSU demands a shift from quantitative to qualitative aspects in the evaluation of education systems. We would like to highlight the need for complexity of the results of surveys measuring any aspects of education and training.
