The Finnish Institute for Education Research continues conducting the PISA study

The Ministry for Education and Culture, the Finnish Institute for Educational Research (FIER) of the University of Jyväskylä, and the University of Helsinki have signed a contract on conducting the PISA 2018 study in Finland. The main responsibility is Jyväskylä’s.

 – The coordination of the new PISA study strengthens the status of FIER as the national centre for the assessment of study results and its position as a desired international collaborator, says the director of the institute, Jouni Välijärvi.

In 2018, the PISA study will be carried out already for the seventh time. FIER has been responsible for the study every three years since it was first conducted in Finland in 2000. The only exception is in 2006, when the study was conducted by the University of Helsinki.

 The test completely computer-based

 In the PISA 2018 study, FIER answers for the subject areas of reading literacy (the main area), mathematics and science. The institute also coordinates the study nationally, prepares the measuring equipment, and takes care of the practicalities in schools. The University of Helsinki answers for the subject area of “global skills”.

 – PISA is now carried out completely with computers, which provides valuable information for the development of national assessment and teaching, Välijärvi describes.

 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) is a research program of the OECD but it also includes dozens of countries outside the OECD. PISA produces information on the status and results of education in an international framework and assesses the extent to which 15-year-old students have acquired key knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in modern societies and how these skills develop over time.

The Finnish schools gained a great deal of positive attention after their excellent results in the first PISA study. The latest results, however, have shown that the skill level of the Finnish students has decreased. The following results will be received in December 2016 when the results for the PISA 2015 are published.

Further information
https://ktl.jyu.fi/pisa/en

More information

Jouni Välijärvi
jouni.valijarvi@jyu.fi
+358 50 567 7210