On December 3, the OECD released the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which showed that, among 15-year-old students in all the 79 participating countries and economies, students in Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang (B-S-J-Z) scored the highest in all three subjects, i.e. reading, mathematics and science.
I. Student performance snapshots
Students in B-S-J-Z outperformed their counterparts in other countries/economies at the highest levels of proficiency (Level 5 or 6), with the mean scores being 555, 591 and 590 in reading, mathematics and science, respectively. The proportions of students in B-S-J-Z who attained minimum levels of proficiency (Level 2 or higher) in reading, mathematics and science were 94.8%, 97.6% and 97.9% respectively – all top among all participating countries/economies. The proportions of top performers (i.e. students who were proficient at Level 5 or 6) in B-S-J-Z were also among the top three in the rankings: 21.7% in mathematics, ranking No. 1; 13.4% in reading, ranking No. 2; and 22.3% in science, ranking No. 2. In addition, the proportion of top performers in B-S-J-Z in all three subjects was 25.2%, placing them first among all participating countries/economies.
II. Educational equity
The results showed that the urban-rural gap in B-S-J-Z had been narrowed in terms of school facilities while it remained significant in teacher capacity, revealing an alarming shortage of staff in rural areas.
1. The four municipalities/provinces scored -0.27 on average in terms of material shortage, lower than 63 participating countries/economies. More specifically, for urban schools, the score was -0.35; while for rural schools, it was -0.20.
2. The same four municipalities/provinces scored 0.75 on average in terms of staff shortages, higher than the OECD average, and third among participating countries/economies. For urban schools, the score was 0.44; while for rural schools, it was 0.98 (1 representing extreme shortage).
3. There was a significant gap between urban and rural areas in teacher capacity, especially in the application of student-centered teaching strategies and teaching passion. Some rural teachers were reported to be poor at or lacking interest in teaching after the curriculum reform.
4. Unbalanced development was still conspicuous at school level. The school difference in student reading proficiency was 42.0%, ranking 16th among participating countries/economies.
III. Teaching practices
Teachers in B-S-J-Z performed well in using adaptive teaching, with the average score being 0.38, ranking fourth among participating countries/economies. They were found to be good at motivating students to link new information with content they had already learned, as the average score in cognitive activation was 0.56, ranking third among participating countries/economies. 95% of students in B-S-J-Z said that they felt teachers were supportive, and the score in student support from teachers was 0.36, higher than many other countries/economies with high proportions of top performers in reading. Teachers in B-S-J-Z also provided students with abundant and diversified reading materials, of which novels were provided more often than other genres. The richness of classroom reading materials in these four municipalities/provinces was far higher than the OECD average.
IV. Reading interest
Students in B-S-J-Z were found to be more interested in reading than their peers in other participating countries/economies, as the reading interest score obtained by the four municipalities/provinces was 0.97, placing it No. 1 in the ranking. Results also demonstrated that students in B-S-J-Z were avid readers: 24.8% reporting that they read content from two genres several times a month, while 19.2% reported that they read content from three sources several times a month.
V. Study Time
Students in B-S-J-Z studied in class 31.8 hours a week, ranking fourth among all participating countries/economies. More specifically, the average time spent on reading, mathematics and science was 4.6, 5.0 and 5.5 hours weekly, placing the four municipalities/provinces No. 7, 8 and 3, respectively. The proportion of time spent in all three subjects to total class hours was 47.6%, ranking No. 17.
VI. Learning efficiency and student satisfaction
In general, students in B-S-J-Z were not very efficient in learning and reported low satisfaction with their lives. The four municipalities/provinces obtained 119.8, 118.0 and 107.7 points/hour in terms of learning efficiency in reading, mathematics and science, ranking No. 44, 46 and 54 respectively. They scored -0.19 and 6.64 on average in terms of student sense of belonging at school and satisfaction, ranking No. 51 and 61 respectively.
VII. Family support
B-S-J-Z scored 0.15 in terms of educational resources provided by the family, ranking No. 18, higher than some countries/economies with comparatively or higher average levels in family economic status. By contrast, it only scored -0.67 in the average family economic-social-cultural status (ESCS), which demonstrates strong parent involvement in education. Furthermore, it scored -0.02 in terms of parental emotional support, placing the four municipalities/provinces among the middle range.
It is reported that a total of 12,058 students from 361 schools in B-S-J-Z participated in the PISA 2018 survey. 361 principals and 17,634 teachers completed online questionnaires. The proportion of schools, students and teachers participating in the survey to their respective totals in the four municipalities/provinces was 100%, 99% and 98%, respectively. All the above data was reviewed and published by the OECD.
The PISA is a worldwide study initiated by the OECD in 2000 to evaluate educational systems by measuring the ability of 15-year-olds to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills to meet real-life challenges. The idea behind PISA lay in testing the knowledge and skills of students directly. Through a combination of methods such as setting testing scenarios, designing high proficiency tests and distributing questionnaires, it can offer in-depth measurements of core student skills. In addition, based on the background information collected from students, teachers and school principals, it also analyzes factors that affect student achievements and further evaluate educational systems of participating countries/economies, thus enabling them to improve their educational policies.
The PISA is a triennial survey involving mainly OECD member countries, while non-member countries and regions are also invited. To date, the number of participating countries/economies has increased from 43 in 2000 to 79 in 2018 (including the United States, Canada, Australia, and most European countries; some Asian countries such as Japan, Korea and Thailand; and some South American countries such as Brazil and Argentina, etc.). The PISA assessment has become the largest and most influential compulsory education assessment project in the world.
To know more about global trends in educational development, to review China’s education system from the global perspective and to get acquainted with advanced education assessment, the Ministry of Education required Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to participate in the PISA 2018 survey as a region. It is more developed than other regions across the country in terms of economic and educational development with high IT application in education where students can complete computer-based tests.
