PISA highlights the achievement gap within countries

The results of the latest PISA survey have been published. PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment) is a survey conducted every three years by the OECD. It aims to compare the performance of schools and education systems worldwide by assessing 15/16 year olds in three main subjects - math, science, and reading - with a special focus on one subject per survey. PISA 2012 was the fifth survey, with a special focus on math. Around 510,000 students sat for a two-hour paper-based test, with some students taking an additional computer-based test. All of the students, and their principals, also completed questionnaires about their background. 

While much of the media coverage has emphasized the differences between countries, the 2012 survey shows that the difference in math performance within countries is greater. Over 300 points - the equivalent of more than seven years of schooling - often separates the highest and the lowest performers in a country. Socioeconomic differences were also important: across OECD countries, a more socioeconomically advantaged student scores 78 points higher in math - the equivalent of nearly two years of schooling - than a less-advantaged student.

The U.S. average mathematics score was 481 points (slightly below the OECD average of 494); was below the OECD average in terms of performance differences in mathematics across socioeconomic groups (70-point difference between socioeconomically advantaged and disadvantaged students); and was around average in terms of the strength of the relationship between mathematics performance and socioeconomic status.

A number of suggestions are put forward in the Results in Focus:

• Target low performance, regardless of students' socioeconomic status, either by targeting low-performing schools or low-performing students within schools, depending on the extent to which low performance is concentrated by school;
• Target disadvantaged children through additional instructional resources or economic assistance;
• Apply more universal policies to raise standards for all students (e.g., altering the content and pace of the curriculum, improving teaching techniques, changing the age of entry into school); and
• Include marginalized students in mainstream schools and classrooms.

Johns Hopkins University 

Research in Brief

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