PISA 2018 testing period begins in Estonian schools

A total of about 7,500 students from 232 schools across Estonia will take the PISA 2018 test during a period which began on Monday and will last through May 11. This time, the primary focus of the test is on functional reading skills.
According to Gunda Tire, Innove Foundation's chief PISA specialist, the PISA 2018 will measure 15-year-old students' reading comprehension skills, and whether they are able to recognize, understand and utilize hidden information. Based on the results of the previous PISA test, taken in 2015, Estonia's students ranked sixth in the world and third in Europe in reading literacy.
Every three years beginning in 2000, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) measures the competencies of 15-year-old students in science, reading and mathematics. Mastering core subjects in school and applying one's knowledge in familiar settings, however, is not sufficient to thrive in life. Even in the absence of specific knowledge or of a routine procedure on which they can rely, students must still be able to understand and solve the myriad new problems they will encounter in life.
This year, half a million students in more than 80 countries around the world will take the PISA test, which is being administered in Estonia for the fifth time. The test will be administered by Innove Foundation and funded by the Ministry of Finance.
The results of the PISA 2018 will be published in December 2019.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS