1. Literacy
?
Learning
Mandar Nadgir
EIE (Feb 2012)

2.  What is PISA?
 The actual tests
 India’s performance
 Issues and ideas

3.  Programme for International Student Assessment
 International comparative study of 15 year olds (end of basic education)
 Capabilities in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy tested
 Focuses on educational outcome as basis for suggested government
policy decision-making
 Administered every 3 years – produces comparative analysis to indicate
improvement/impact of government policies
 Schools involved in the process – indicate level of resources available
Intend to address these
questions
• How well are students equipped to meet challenges of future?
• Is education access equitable in the country?
• Are some schools better than others?
• What is students attitude towards education?

4. Literacy
• Print and digital medium; continuous (paragraph) and non-continuous (tables)
• Variety of texts – descriptive, narrative, argumentative, instructive
• Engagement with texts tested – ability to interpret, reflect, evaluate
• Covered variety of situations – personal, public, educational
• Language of test chosen by student 1 week prior to test [1]
Mathemactics
• Understand the role of mathematics in the world
• Understanding of basic mathematical concepts
• Applications of the concepts to problems in different contexts
Science
• Test scientific knowledge, ability to ask questions, acquire new knowledge
• Draw evidence-based conclusions
• Awareness of impact of science and technology on our socio-cultural environment
Indian vs Global Context
• Around 15,000 students; 400 schools across Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh
• Overall 1.4 million students across 74 economies – OECD nations + partners

5. • Both states at the bottom of the chart – low scores across parameters
• Significant proportion (about 80%) had reading abilities below Grade IV
• Around 20% were poor reader (inability to comprehend regular text)

6.  Both states at the bottom of the chart in both math and sciences
 More than 50% failed to answer questions where all information is
present and questions clearly defined

7.  Gender differences
 Girls outperform boys in reading abilities across nations
 Boys in HP better than girls at math and science, reverse true in TN
 Impact of socio-economic factors
 Between-school variance in performance low in TN, HP compared to
OECD averages showing poor performance across schools
 Between-school variance primarily accounted by socio-economic
factors
 School accountability and resources
 Account significantly for variance in performance

8.  Who is accountable for this mess?
 Government, Society, Schools, Family
 Does Right to Education ensure quality?
 Input-focus vs Output-focus
 When the best states failed to perform, what is the situation in other
states of the country?
 PISA assessment for all states in 2012
 What lies in the future?
 Quality framework for education
 Involvement of private schools
 Increased regulations

9. 1. OECD Website, retrieved on 2nd Feb 2012
http://www.oecd.org/document/53/0,3746,en_32252351_32235731_38262
901_1_1_1_1,00.html
2. ACER report of OECD 2009+, Maurice Walker