Student Performance in PISA 2018: Nettlesome Questions for Canada

John Richards
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John Richards: Simon Fraser University

C.D. Howe Institute Commentary, 2020, issue 576

Abstract: Schools Face Three Nettlesome Challenges Beyond COVID: Author John Richards looks at data from OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and finds declining scores in core subjects and wide gaps in achievement between advantaged and disadvantaged students. The OECD’s PISA has become a universally respected means to assess student outcomes in reading, mathematics, and science in national school systems at the upper secondary level among students age 15. “The most troubling PISA trends are in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, the two provinces with the largest average subject declines from the benchmarking year to 2018,” says Richards. With the exception of Quebec, declines in mathematics have been statistically significant in all provinces. To reduce gaps in outcomes, Richards calls on provinces to target low-income and disadvantaged communities through pre-school education and programs that provide intense tutoring and mentoring among secondary-school students.

Keywords: Education, Skills and Labour Market; Educational Outcomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I21 I28 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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