What is the name of the international student assessment program run by the OECD?

The international student assessment program run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is known as PISA. PISA stands for the Programme for International Student Assessment, and it is a worldwide study designed to evaluate educational systems. It assesses the scholastic performance of 15-year-old students in key subjects such as reading, mathematics, and science. The program specifically focuses on how well these students can apply their knowledge and skills to real-life challenges, rather than simply testing factual recall.

This triennial assessment provides valuable comparative data that enables countries to improve their education policies and outcomes. First performed in 2000, PISA has expanded to include a growing number of member and non-member nations, with 81 countries and economies participating in the 2022 cycle. Each cycle typically features a major domain, which is assessed in greater depth, alongside minor domains. For example, mathematics was the major domain in PISA 2022.

PISA's objective is to measure the "yield" of education systems, providing insights into the competencies students have acquired as they near the end of compulsory schooling. The results are scaled so that the OECD average in each domain is 500, with a standard deviation of 100, allowing for meaningful comparisons across participating regions and over time. By offering a global benchmark, PISA helps educators and policymakers identify strengths and weaknesses in their educational approaches and learn from practices in other countries.