Have you ever seen those little graphs on the news that compares the United States’ education to other countries’ education?
Well, that’s what the PISA test is for: it’s to gauge how well the United States education system is fairing compared to other countries.
PISA stands for Programme for International Student Assessment. A long and tedious name for a long and boring test. It was created in 2000.
A whopping 80 other countries test using PISA. Every three years a bunch of kids, who happen to be 15 when the school year begins, are randomly chosen to take the test.
Our country’s academic performance is theoretically based on luck and students’ ability to learn.
Scores could go down if an education system is struggling. After COVID-19, I would say that is the case.
After the pandemic, many students are struggling. Learning abilities and test scores have been down dramatically.
The PISA test was inactive in the 2020-2021 school year, and because of that, we can see a big difference in scores.
At least after taking the test I received $25 and four service hours. If it weren’t for this, I would have never even considered taking it.
The test started early at 7:25. Many other students arrived late and halted our progression toward starting.
Finally, we got started at 7:35.
The test was all online, which means with each click of a button my pupil was being burned off my iris.
Having the test online was difficult, as often I would look up and my vision would be blurry.
On the contrary, not having to print all of those tests out for all the students let many trees go unharmed.
The test didn’t end until almost 11:00 AM. I was one of the first students to finish with everything, most students didn’t finish until much later after me.
Along with the test, there was a questionnaire that followed. The questionnaire was almost as long as the test itself.
Not only that students that had A lunch would have to be in B lunch and give up not having their lunch with their friends before the long weekend.
Four hours of my life wasted. Not only that but after I had to go back to my class and pretend like my brain wasn’t rotting from the inside.
Getting test results back is impossible since all scores are added to make an average.
I would say unless you are desperate for service hours the PISA test isn’t worth taking and I wouldn’t recommend it.
With my $25, I am planning on buying something nice for myself as a reward for all the missing work from my classes I have to make up.
I’m Abby and like fashion, music, reading, and nature. Fun fact: I own over 20 plants.