In compliance with a decision made by the Ministers for Culture and Education of its federal states, the Federal Republic of Germany participates in the PISA International School Proficiency Study.
PISA is part of the Indicators of Educational Systems (INES) programs run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The program aims to periodically provide OECD member states with comparative data on the proficiency of their education systems. It surveys performances worldwide and across all school types in the areas of reading comprehension, mathematics, and the sciences.
PISA is a cyclical study. The first cycle took place in the year 2000, and has been followed by three-year cycles ever since. Before each cycle, new test questions and procedures are trialed in preliminary studies. The findings of these field tests determine which test questions and procedures will be used in the following main survey.
Extensive information about the PISA study can be found at the PISA website.
Since PISA 2012, the Center for International Student Assessment (Zentrum für internationale Bildungsvergleichsstudien, ZIB), led by Professor Dr Doris Lewalter at the Technical University Munich (TUM), has been responsible for managing Germany’s participation in the international PISA Study.
IEA’s contribution consists of field operations, coding, and data management for the PISA surveys in Germany.