Knowledge Alone Is Not Enough: New study shows that the educational study PISA could be more than just a way of ranking countries

Researchers from Freie Universität Berlin, the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education, and Boston College offer a new perspective on results from large-scale educational assessments and a more meaningful way of comparing outcomes. No 067/2021 from Apr 23, 2021 Professor Steffi Pohl, a researcher at Freie Universität Berlin, is part of an international team taking an in-depth look at large-scale educational assessments such as PISA ("Programme for International Student Assessment"). In a new study, the team has analyzed the PISA results from a different perspective. Their findings show that when it comes to assessing student performance in school, it's not just the academic ability of the students that makes a difference. It turns out that outcomes are based on complex student behavior. When taking tests, students tend to use a mixture of skill and strategy, and these strategies can vary; for example, some students tend to prioritize speed over accuracy when answering exam questions, while for others the opposite is true. The researchers believe that at present it is not always possible to clearly define which aspect of student behavior most influences PISA outcomes and to what extent assessments fail to factor in these aspects equally for all students - something that could have particular implications for country rankings.