Latvia’s PISA lead says stop blaming teachers

Latvian 15 year olds’ performance in reading, mathematics and science has fallen sharply, reaching its lowest level this century, LSM reported. Rita Kiseļova, the leading researcher at the Institute for Education Research and head of the PISA study in Latvia, discussed the results in an interview with Latvian Radio correspondent Ilze Kuzmina.

PISA assesses students’ competencies rather than simply testing their knowledge. The tasks examine how well students can apply knowledge gained at school to situations connected with everyday life, Kiseļova said.

Tasks begin with students reading or analysing information. This may be a text, research results, diagrams, maps or tables. In science, students may be asked to conduct an investigation in a virtual laboratory. They then use their knowledge to complete tasks based on the information provided.

Reading tasks can require students to answer questions, find information from several sources, compare the reliability of sources and assess which text is more suitable for a particular situation. Students must also draw conclusions from the results and write answers.

Mathematics tasks follow a similar approach. One simple example involves using the length of a tree’s shadow to calculate the tree’s height. Tasks vary in difficulty across all three areas.

Each subject also includes a large group of link tasks, which are repeated in every study cycle. These tasks are confidential and are not published, providing the basis for comparing results across different cycles.