Dramatic score declines dominated the headlines reporting on the release of the latest PISA scores, with many sources highlighting the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on teaching and learning. Some reports focused particularly on math scores, which, in a number of cases, experienced the most drastic drops from the 2018 results. In some instances, reports noted that some education systems (like the US) were able to rise up in the rankings because their scores did not decline as much as others. A few headlines also emphasized issues such as low levels school belonging for migrant students, increased student anxiety and reduced psychosocial well-being, and the effects of income inequality on score results. Numerous critiques have identified serious issues with the PISA findings and their use (see for example Two decades of havoc: A synthesis of criticism against PISA or PISA: Mission Failure and PISA Mission Failure), but for context on the reporting on PISA, this year’s scan of the headlines reporting on the release of the 2022 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) results can be compared to IEN’s previous PISA coverage, including: Around the World in PISA 2018 Headlines, and Headlines Around the World 2015 Edition.
Global
“Eighteen countries and economies performed above the OECD average in mathematics, reading and science in 2022. Between 2018 and 2022, mean performance in mathematics across OECD countries fell by a record 15 points. Reading fell 10 points, twice the previous record, whereas science performance did not change significantly. On average, reading and science trajectories had been falling for a decade, though math had remained stable between 2003-2018. Colombia, Macao (China), Peru and Qatar improved in all three subjects on average since they began to take part in PISA.”
PISA 2022 Results: Summary, OECD
“The average international mathematics score fell by 15 points since the 2018 tests, the equivalent of three-quarters of a year of learning, reading fell by the equivalent of half a year, with only science scores remaining more or less the same.”
‘Unprecedented’ decline in global literacy scores, OECD report says, AlJazeera
OECD education survey shows ‘unprecedented’ drop in student performance, France 24
How Absenteeism, Math Anxiety, and Other Factors Shaped the Troubling Results From PISA, Education Week
Argentina
PISA tests: almost 73% of secondary students do not reach a minimum level in mathematics, La Nación
PISA tests: the crisis of basic learning contradicts all inclusion discourses, La Nación
Australia
Australian students’ Pisa scores still declining despite climb into OECD top 10, The Guardian
The Balkans
PISA School Test Results See South-East Europe Pupils Falter, Balkan Insider
Canada
Global high school test scores show ‘worrying’ decline. Here’s how Ontario students did, Toronto Star
Chile
PISA 2022: Chile maintains results in science and drops again in mathematics and reading, La Tercera
PISA 2022 and the case of Chile: what is behind the averages, El País
Colombia
“In Colombia the decline was smaller (8 points less in mathematics, 3 in reading and 2 in science), but it is still significant given the complexities due to the confinements that teachers and students faced during the pandemic in a country with profound inequalities. . Colombia retained the best performance achieved compared to the results of 2006, when it participated for the first time in the test.”
The results of the PISA test reiterate the weaknesses of the educational model in Colombia, El País
Cyprus
Majority of Cypriot students lack proficiency in reading comprehension, PISA results show, Philenews
El Salvador
El Salvador in the last places in the new PISA report on education, ElSalvador.com
Estonia
Estonia drops to fourth in latest PISA rankings, ERR News
PISA: Estonian 15-year-olds top the European knowledge scoreboard, Estonian World
Europe
European education slips downward, according to PISA report by OECD, EuroNews
The kids are not alright: Most EU pupils educational results tumble in PISA rankings, The Brussels Signal
Finland
“Finnish 15-year-olds saw their mean score in mathematical literacy – the main focus of the latest assessment – decline by 23 points from 2018 to 484 points, 12 points higher than the mean score of pupils across the OECD.”
Finland’s Pisa results continue to decline, sparking concern, Helsinki Times
Germany
“The general state of global education has been slammed by the first PISA performance assessment report since the pandemic. German students fared particularly badly, but those in Asia performed highly.”
Germany’s students fare worse than ever in PISA school tests, DW
Ireland
Irish teenagers ‘are second best in the world at reading’, The Irish Times
Hong Kong
“Hong Kong pupils have dropped out of the top 10 to 11th place for mother tongue literacy in the Programme for International Student Assessment. But in a related study, Hong Kong ranked second worldwide in terms of effectiveness in digital learning and educational equity”
Japan
Japanese Students Move Up PISA Rankings; Now 3rd in Reading; Shorter School Closures in Pandemic May Be a Factor, The Japan News
Latin America and the Caribbean
PISA 2022: How did Latin America and the Caribbean do?, Inter American Development Bank
Latvia
Latvian students’ performance has weakened in maths and reading, improved in sciences – PISA, The Baltic Times
Malaysia
Malaysian students’ Pisa scores drop in 2022, The Star
Mexico
“The economic condition of the students’ families is the most influential data in Mexican education. The gap in the evaluations is 58 points between rich and poor , although it is much smaller than in the rest of the OECD countries, where the difference is 93.”
Mexican students drop to the lowest level in reading and mathematics since 2006, El País
PISA Report: How did Mexico do on the exam? It came out WORSE in these subjects, Milenio
Morocco
New report underlines deteriorating academic performance of Moroccan students, Morocco World News
The Netherlands
Dutch kids reading, maths, and science skills declining: OECD, NL Times
New Zealand
“This country’s 15-year-olds’ average scores in the PISA dropped a disastrous 15 points in maths to 479 points, their science and reading scores fell just 4-5 points to 504 and 501 points respectively, and the gap between rich and poor students grew.”
NZ records worst ever PISA international test results, amid global decline, RNZ
Student hunger, bad teachers revealed in latest PISA tests showing dip in NZ teens’ scores, RNZ
Philippines
Philippines still lags behind world in math, reading, and science — PISA 2022, Philstar
Saudi Arabia
Saudi schools ‘doing better at maths but still lagging behind’, AGBI
Singapore
“Singapore was ranked No. 1 for mathematics, science and reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2022. Compared with 2018, Singapore students who took part in Pisa 2022 maintained their performance in mathematics and improved substantially in science, but their performance declined slightly in reading.”
Singapore students rank top in maths, science and reading in OECD study, The Straits Times
Spain
“Spanish students in the last year of secondary education have dropped 8 points in mathematics compared to the previous edition, in 2018 – in which they already fell a lot -, until they remain at 473. They have gone back three in reading comprehension, to 474. And they have risen two points in science, to 485. The global setback has been, however, of such caliber…that Spain had never been so close to the average of both organizations.”
Taiwan
“Taiwan maintained student well-being and math performance across all social groups, with 87 percent of Taiwanese students reporting a sense of belonging at school, which improved from 85 percent in 2018, the report said.”
Taiwan demonstrates ‘overall resilience’: report, Taipei Times
Thailand
Thai students ranked lower on every PISA index, The Nation
Turkey
PISA report shows Turkey’s scores below OECD average in education, Turkish Minute
United Arab Emirates
“For the first time ever, Dubai private schools have ranked among the top 14 in the world in mathematics, science and reading in the most recent cycle of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), exceeding the National Agenda target of top 15.”
Dubai private schools rank in top 14 in global assessment for maths, science and reading, Gulfnews
United Kingdom
PISA 2022: Rise in maths, but warning over inflated results, Schools Week
Pisa: Wales slumps to worst school test results, BBC
United States
US teendagers decline in global test of math, but hold steady in reading, science, Education Week
“In the first comparable global results since the coronavirus pandemic, 15-year-olds in the United States scored below students in similar industrialized democracies like the United Kingdom, Australia and Germany, and well behind students in the highest-performing countries such as Singapore, South Korea and Estonia — continuing an underperformance in math that predated the pandemic.”
Math Scores Dropped Globally, but the U.S. Still Trails Other Countries, The New York Times
Uruguay
PSA 2022 Tests: Uruguay worsened results in mathematics, improved in science and remained unchanged in reading, El Observador
Vietnam
Pisa 2022: Vietnamese students experience decline in performance rankings, The Star
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