PISA

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Student Achievement How Motivated Are Students to Drive Their Own Learning?
An international test of students in more than 80 countries and economies finds that many struggle with motivation.
Sarah Schwartz, November 13, 2024
4 min read
Photo of high school girls working on building project in class.
Globally, 15-year-old girls outpaced their male peers in a new international test of creative thinking.
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Federal What the Research Says What Schools Can Learn From a Global Assessment on Creative Thinking
Not all creativity is the same for student achievement, the latest Program for International Student Assessment data show.
Sarah D. Sparks, June 18, 2024
4 min read
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Artificial Intelligence AI May Be Coming for Standardized Testing
An international test may offer clues on how AI can help create better assessments.
Alyson Klein, March 25, 2024
4 min read
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Mathematics What the Research Says Ready or Not for an AI Economy: How U.S. Students Stack Up
"Artificial intelligence has triggered a global talent race," an expert says, and American students lack the data skills for it.
Sarah D. Sparks, March 18, 2024
4 min read
Illustration in blue and red of a student learning algebra from math teacher
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Student Achievement What the Research Says How Absenteeism, Math Anxiety, and Other Factors Shaped the Troubling Results From PISA
Dire results on the Program for International Student Assessment should start conversations. Here's how.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 6, 2023
5 min read
Diverse group of middle school students working on laptops in a classroom setting.
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Student Achievement What the Research Says U.S. Teenagers Decline in Global Test of Math, But Hold Steady in Reading, Science
The Program for International Student Assessment shows U.S. students lost less ground than their global peers during the pandemic.
Sarah D. Sparks, December 5, 2023
4 min read
Conceptual image of growth mindset.
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Student Well-Being 'Growth Mindset' Linked to Higher Test Scores, Student Well-Being in Global Study
The first global study of "growth mindset" found both academic benefits and better well-being among students who think intelligence is not fixed.
Sarah D. Sparks, April 9, 2021
4 min read
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Leadership Opinion My Hope for the New Education Secretary's Agenda
We must rethink our local and national education goals. Global competence is a good place to start, writes TFA founder Wendy Kopp.
Wendy Kopp, January 27, 2021
5 min read
Assessment News in Brief PISA Working Toward Exam to Gauge Creative Thinking—Built by ACT
When teenagers worldwide take PISA in 2021, they could face a new kind of test—one that aims to measure their creativity. And the maker of a major U.S. college admissions exam, ACT Inc., would build it.
Catherine Gewertz, September 25, 2018
1 min read
Assessment Opinion NAEP vs. PISA? Hands down, It's PISA
PISA's collection of background data provides policymakers critical insights beyond just student performance. Marc Tucker makes the case that NAEP should collect similar information.
Marc Tucker, December 7, 2017
5 min read
Student Well-Being U.S. Students Work Better in Teams, New PISA Test Finds
U.S. teenagers outperform their math, reading, and science skills when it comes to collaborative problems, a new study finds.
Sarah D. Sparks, November 22, 2017
4 min read
School & District Management Opinion Has the United States Been 'Sleepwalking Through History' or Not?
Marc Tucker responds to critics of his argument that the U.S. has been sleepwalking in its approach to improving education compared to other countries.
Marc Tucker, October 12, 2017
13 min read
School & District Management Opinion Germany Rapidly Improved Their Schools and We Didn't—Why?
After disappointing PISA results in 2000, Marc Tucker looks at why Germany reacted with system-wide reform while the United States responded with complacency.
Marc Tucker, October 4, 2017
4 min read
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Curriculum Higher-Income Teenagers Are More Financially Literate, Global Test Finds
The second-ever international assessment for financial literacy finds U.S. students are about average.
Jaclyn Zubrzycki, May 24, 2017
4 min read