International Assessment: What's It All About?

If international assessments are to be believed, American adolescents are lagging behind in science and math compared to the rest of the world.

On December 4, the results of the 2006 Program for International Student Assessment, commonly known as PISA, were released. And most American parents are none too happy with the results.

The survey of 40,000 15-year-olds in 57 nations showed American students are way below average when compared head-to-head against students in 30 industrialized nations across the globe. The United States ranked 25th in math and 21st in science. Finland was the highest-performing country on the PISA 2006 science scale. Other PISA high-scorers included Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong-China, Taiwan, and Estonia.

The test included both multiple choice and open-ended questions. The focus on science is new to PISA, and the assessment of students' scientific knowledge and skills is based on the concept of scientific literacy, judging whether students can identify, explain and apply scientific knowledge in real life situations.

Adam Thibault is the Senior Policy Analyst for the Strong American Schools ED '08 campaign, a nonpartisan movement calling on presidential candidates to improve America's public schools. He says the PISA results “are a clear indication that schools are in crisis compared to international competitors.”

Many in the education field believe these results give us a look into the future of the global marketplace, with the United States failing to compete with its better-educated counterparts.

So should we be nervous? First, some background:

PISA, administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) every three years, is considered the most comprehensive program to assess and compare student performance around the world. It tries to keep the assessment fair through several measures: students in all nations take the same test which is designed by an internationally representative board, and it is administered to the blanket population of participating nations; in the United States, 96 percent of all 15-year-olds were tested.

However, the test is not without controversy. This year the reading assessment results of American students had to be completely scrapped because there was a printing error in the test booklet. Here's what the DOE had to say: “The Department is very disappointed this error occurred. The contractor [hired by the DOE] has taken full responsibility for this error." Some are calling for the reading portion of the test to be re-administered.

Others in the education field say that PISA results are being blown out of proportion as a true measure of educational prowess. Fred van Leeuwan, the General Secretary of Education International, which represents teachers' unions worldwide, released a statement in conjunction with the PISA results December 4th. He encouraged teachers, policy makers, and parents to view these results as a snapshot of how students answered these questions, not the complete picture of education in any one country. He says it's a major concern to teacher trade unionists when national governments look to make educational reforms in the name of better PISA results.