PISA 2018 Results (Volume I)
What Students Know and Can Do
The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning outcomes attained around the world, and allow educators and policy makers to learn from the policies and practices applied in other countries. This is one of six volumes that present the results of the PISA 2018 survey, the seventh round of the triennial assessment. Volume I, What Students Know and Can Do, provides a detailed examination of student performance in reading, mathematics and science, and describes how performance has changed since previous PISA assessments.
How much effort did students invest in the PISA test?
Performance on school tests is the result of the interplay amongst what students know and can do, how quickly they process information, and how motivated they are for the test. To ensure that students who sit the PISA test engage with the assessment conscientiously and sustain their efforts throughout the test, schools and students that are selected to participate in PISA are often reminded of the importance of the study for their country. For example, at the beginning of the test session, the test administrator reads a script that includes the following sentence: