How does PISA differ from other NCES international assessments?
• PISAdiffers from these studies in several ways: Content PISA is designed to measure “literacy” broadly, while other studies, such as TIMSS and NAEP, have a stronger link to curriculum frameworks and seek to measure students’ mastery of specific knowledge, skills, and concepts. The content of PISA is drawn from broad content areas, such as space and shape for mathematics, in contrast to more specific curriculum-based content such as geometry or algebra. Tasks In addition to the differences in purpose and age coverage between PISA and other international comparative studies, PISA differs from other assessments in what students are asked to do. PISA focuses on assessing students’ knowledge and skills in reading, mathematics, and science literacy in the context of everyday situations. That is, PISA emphasizes the application of knowledge to everyday situations by asking students to perform tasks that involve interpretation of real-world materials as much as possible. Analyses based on ex
