This volume of PISA examines the readiness of students to engage with learning strategies, to be motivated to learn and to be confident in their abilities and in their capacity to improve their skills and knowledge. Countries like Korea have reduced mathematics anxiety, Portugal excels in critical thinking, and more low-performing students in…

In a global economy, stakeholders need to keep themselves well-informed in terms of how their local schools perform when compared with schools across the country and around the world. In doing so, they will be able to consider how well their schools are doing in a larger context and identify strengths as well as areas to target for improvement.…

How well are Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) students prepared for problem-solving, scientific reasoning, and critical thinking? (1) WCPSS schools out-performed both the U.S., national, and international averages in each core subject of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): mathematics, reading, and science; and (2) overall,…

MyPedia is an integrated, multi-subject system of learning for early and late elementary schools. Developed initially for modern aspiring private schools in India, it aims to support measurable improvement in learners' thinking skills. Each lesson in MyPedia is built on the 5i model of instruction, which structures the learning process into five…

Studies have highlighted the beneficial effects of parental involvement in children's educational lives. Few studies, however, analyse parental involvement in a cross-national perspective and few evaluate a wide array of forms of involvement. In 2009, 14 countries and economies implemented the parental questionnaire option in the PISA 2009 cycle.…

This paper presents the development and initial validation of new measures of critical thinking and noncognitive attributes that were designed to supplement existing standardized tests used in the admissions system for higher education in Chile. The importance of various facets of this process, including the establishment of technical rigor and…

Results from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have shown that the degree to which education systems succeed in equipping students with important foundation skills varies significantly. Since the quality of teaching is at the heart of student learning…

Data on some aspects of the deductive logical competence of nongraduate teachers in the English-speaking Caribbean, primarily Jamaica, are reported in this document. The teachers sampled were those who sat for entrance examinations for the University of the West Indies (Mona) Faculty of Education Bachelor of Education and Certificate of Education…

This study tested the amount of value added to critical and communication skills by the university experience using a strategy that compared the skills of entering and graduating students at York University (Ontario). The study involved, first, identifying skills that might be improved over the course of a university education; second, developing…