Update: School-Level PISA Goes Online

As you may recall, the OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] Test for Schools has been around a few years now, giving schools that sign up for the assessment a snapshot of how their kids are doing compared to nations and regions that also take the PISA [Programme for International Student Assessment].

In the spring 2014 Harvard Education Letter, I wrote a story about the effort (Quietly, a New Test Gains Advocates) that had been piloted at 105 schools in the 2012-2013 school year and nearly 300 schools last year.  

The latest news is that NWEA is going to administer the 2016 version, which will also be available online. According to EdWeek (OECD Chooses NWEA for Testing Contract, Platform), the test costs $5,000 per school and NWEA is taking over from CTB/McGraw-Hill. According to a press release, more than 400 schools have participated in recent years.

Via email, America Achieve's Peter Kannam says that the new online version wil cost only about half of the previous version, and that 153 U.S. schools took the assessment this past spring (65 were repeat participants) along with 92 schools across England and Wales.

See also THE Journal: Northwest Evaluation Association Selected To Deliver 2016 OECD Test for Schools; NWEA:  Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Selects NWEA.

Related posts: Ripley "Less Certain" Of PISA Towards End Of Book; The "PISA Myth" Everyone Loves; Nightly News PISA Coverage (Rigor Vs. Poverty); Don't Blame Students' Poverty For Academic Achievement.