PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment, which is an international study that evaluates educational systems by measuring 15-year-old school pupils scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. It was first performed in 2000 and then repeated every three years. PISA is coordinated by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries, and is conducted in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) .
PISA aims to test the literacy competence of students in three fields: mathematics, science, and reading. The test questions do not measure memorization of facts, but rather demand that students draw on knowledge and real-world problem-solving skills. PISA also includes measures of general or cross-curricular competencies, such as collaborative problem-solving. By design, PISA emphasizes functional skills that students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling.
PISA is an ongoing program that offers insights for education policy and practice, and that helps monitor trends in students' acquisition of knowledge and skills. Because a high ranking on PISA correlates to economic success, researchers have concluded that PISA is one indicator of whether school systems are preparing students for the global knowledge economy of the 21st century.
