A brief summary of PISA

PISA is an international comparative survey of the educational school systems in different countries. The first cycle of PISA was carried out in 2000, initiated by OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). PISA measures 15-year-olds’ competencies in reading, mathematics and scientific literacy. In able to study the cumulative yield of education, the assessment takes place every three years and each time all the domains are included.

In 2006 the Norwegian students performed for the first time significantly below the OECD average in all of the three subject areas, and the decline from 2000 was statistically significant in reading literacy. From 2006 to 2009 this development has been reversed, and the results are back at the level they were in 2000.  In reading literacy the average improvement is as much as 19 points during this latest period. This is in line with findings from TIMSS 2007, which also shows some positive changes.

If we discount the fact that science and mathematics do not provide as reliable a measure of development over time as far back as 2000, we may roughly summarise development as follows: In 2000 Norwegian students performed on average in an OECD context; in 2003 there was a slight decline, in 2006 they performed significantly below the OECD average and in 2009 the Norwegian results are very close to the level they were in 2000. The average figures, which accordingly are almost the same as they were in 2000, nonetheless conceal an interesting change which appears in all three subject areas in 2009: the portion of students at the lowest levels is reduced compared with 2000, and correspondingly, the portion of students at the highest levels is also reduced in reading and mathematics literacy.

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