American Students Ahead of the Curve on PISA Problem Solving Scores

Take the PISA Problem-Solving Test

PISA problem solving sampleOECD has made a handful of sample questions from the problem-solving test available to the public. The questions are computer-based and require interaction with objects on the screen. Visit OECD.org.

No, this isn't an April Fool's joke. There's actually good news about American education coming out of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the triennial international assessment that ranks countries based on their students' proficiency in math, science and language arts (as measured by standardized tests).

In data released today from the 2012 international assessment, on average 15-year-old students from the United States showed a greater degree of proficiency in problem solving, in particular on tasks for which they are required to uncover information in order to solve the problem, than their peers from other countries.

U.S. students, with an average score of 508, didn't rank highest in problem-solving — that distinction went to Singapore — but they did beat the average proficiency score (500) of the 85,000 students who participated in this particular assessment. (Those students represented 44 nations that participated in the 2012 assessment, most of whom are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, also known as OECD.)

The actual numbers, which can be found on nces.ed.gov, show that about four-fifths of American 15-year-olds are at or above minimal proficiency (proficiency level 2) in problem solving, with the remaining 18.2 percent below that level.

The numbers break down as follows:

  • 5.7 percent of American students were below proficiency level 1 versus the international average of 8.2 percent;
  • 12.5 percent were at level 1, slightly below the international average of 13.2 percent;
  • 22.8 percent were at level 2, the minimum level considered "proficient," compared with 22 percent internationally;
  • 27 percent were at level 3 compared with 25.6 percent internationally;
  • 20.4 percent were at level 4 compared with 19.6 percent internationally;
  • 8.9 percent were at level 5 (tied with the international average); and
  • 2.7 percent were at the highest level of proficiency, level 6, just beating the international average of 2.5 percent.

According to a report released by OECD, "Fifteen-year-olds in the United States perform strongest on interactive tasks, compared to students of similar overall performance in other countries. Interactive tasks require students to uncover some of the information needed to solve the problem themselves. This suggests that students in the United States are open to novelty, tolerate doubt and uncertainty, and dare to use intuition to initiate a solution."

On the down side, compared with the highest-performing nations (Singapore, Korea and Japan), the largest gaps were seen in "tasks where students must select, organi[z]e and integrate the information and feedback received in order to represent and formulate their understanding of the problem."

Performance of American boys and girls was roughly equal (a three-point difference in the average versus a seven-point difference among all participating countries). But there was a significant disparity between immigrant and non-immigrant scores, with non-immigrants scoring on average 14 points higher than immigrants (512 versus 498).

Additional details can be found on the PISA site. Sample problem-solving questions are also available to the public.

About the Author

David Nagel is the former editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal, STEAM Universe, and Spaces4Learning. A 30-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art, marketing, media, and business publications.

He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidrnagel/ .


Featured

  • blue AI cloud connected to circuit lines, a server stack, and a shield with a padlock icon

    Report: AI Security Controls Lag Behind Adoption of AI Cloud Services

    According to a recent report from cybersecurity firm Wiz, nearly nine out of 10 organizations are already using AI services in the cloud — but fewer than one in seven have implemented AI-specific security controls.

  • stacks of glowing digital documents with circuit patterns and data streams

    Mistral AI Intros Advanced AI-Powered OCR

    French AI startup Mistral AI has announced Mistral OCR, an advanced optical character recognition (OCR) API designed to convert printed and scanned documents into digital files with "unprecedented accuracy."

  • robot waving

    Copilot Updates Aim to Personalize AI

    Microsoft has introduced a range of updates to its Copilot platform, marking a new phase in its effort to deliver what it calls a "true AI companion" that adapts to individual users' needs, preferences and routines.

  • teenager interacts with a chatbot on a computer screen

    Character.AI Rolls Out New Parental Insights Feature Amid Safety Concerns

    Chatbot platform Character.AI has introduced a new Parental Insights feature aimed at giving parents a window into their children's activity on the platform. The feature allows users under 18 to share a weekly report of their chatbot interactions directly with a parent's e-mail address.