The International Student Assessment Program measures the levels of some of the skills that young people need to face adult life. For Italy, the body responsible for carrying out the PISA survey – and also other international surveys – is the INVALSI PISA is a survey conducted on 15-year-old students from all over the world that notes to what extent they have acquired fundamental knowledge and skills to fully participate in social and economic life. To achieve good results at PISA students must be able to extrapolate information from what they know, think beyond discipline boundaries, apply their knowledge creatively in new situations, and demonstrate effective learning strategies. The 2022 edition was attended by nearly 700.000 students from 81 countries and economies, representing 29 million students worldwide. Italy participated with a sample of 10.552 students from 345 selected schools. This sample is representative of a population of about half a million fifteen-year-olds. Mathematics was the main field of detection of PISA 2022, while Reading and Science were detected as secondary areas. The students also participated in trials on Creative Thinking and Financial Competence. Italian students obtained an average score of 482 points, above the OECD average of 476 points. Compared to 2018, the change in the average score achieved in this discipline is not statistically significant. In the long run in Reading, there have been fluctuations in performance, but the average score of PISA 2022 was not significantly different from previous cycles. In Italy, 79 % of participants reach at least Level 2 in Reading, i.e. they reach the minimum level of skills. At the international level, the percentage is 74 %. The results in Mathematics in Mathematics Italian students scored an average of 471 points, in line with the 472 points of the OECD average. In comparison with the results of 2018, the average score achieved in this discipline decreased by 15 points. In the long run, the performance in Mathematics in PISA 2022 was also lower than in several cycles prior to 2018. In Italy, 70 % of participants reach at least Level 2 in Mathematics, thus achieving the minimum level of skills. At the international level, the percentage is 69 %. Italian students obtained an average score of 477 points, below the OECD average of 485 points. Compared to 2018 the average score achieved in this discipline was 9 points higher. In Science, if you consider the data from 2006, the trend of the results is rather stable. In Italy, 76 % of participants reach at least Level 2 in Science, i.e. they reach the minimum level of skills. Internationally, the percentage is the same. With regard to the differences between the areas of the country, the areas of Northern Italy score higher than the areas of the South in all three areas of survey. The difference between better students (10 % of the highest scores) and less good (10 % of the lowest scores) is similar between geographical areas. Compared to the types of education, high schools scored higher than the other types of education in all three disciplines investigated. Then, with a similar performance, there are technical institutes and vocational education and training. The influence of socio-economic background and gender differences Observing the relationship between the socio-economic status of students and the performance in the Mathematics tests in PISA 2022 showed that in Italy about 13 % of the variability of the score is explained by the condition of origin of the students. This is in line with the OECD average (15 %). With regard to geographical areas, there were no particular differences in the variability of scores attributable to the family background. Gender differences emerged for Mathematics and Reading; in the sciences boys and girls have obtained similar scores. In Mathematics, the boys scored an average of 21 points more. In the Reading, the girls scored an average score of 19 points higher. Compared with the previous cycle, these differences remained broadly stable. Insights
- What the OECD PISA Survey is and how it works
- Creative Thinking in the OECD Survey PISA 2022
- OECD PISA 2018 results
- The OECD PISA 2022 survey on invalsi.it
- OECD PISA survey on the OECD website
Original article published on invalsiopen.it on 5.12.2023
Source : European Digital Skills & Jobs Platform
