Japanese students ranked third in their ability to use reading skills to solve real-life problems in an international learning assessment test in 2022, climbing significantly from 15th in 2018, a global survey showed Tuesday. Singapore was first.
In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s computer-based assessment of 15-year-olds in 81 countries and economies, Japan also rose from second to fifth place in science and from sixth to fifth in mathematics. Singapore also moved into first place in either category.
In the most recent survey of academics affected by the coronavirus pandemic, a Japanese Ministry of Education official analyzed that shorter school closures in Japan than in other countries would have possibly influenced the results, while pointing to the effectiveness of exploratory learning and interactive coaching strategies that have gained traction. . .
Students in Japan scored higher than the OECD average in reading, mathematics and science but were outperformed by Singapore, which occupied the top spot in all three categories.
Meanwhile, China, which was in the lead in the previous survey, represented by academics from Beijing and Shanghai as well as Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, did not participate due to the effect of the pandemic.
The questions in the latest assessment included a spreadsheet to compare knowledge about the proportion of forest space in other countries and assess the credibility of a company’s website.
About 6,000 Japanese academics from 183 top-tier public and private schools took part in the eighth edition of the test, which began in 2000. Improving their reading comprehension is a priority given the country’s sharp drop in this category in the 2003 assessment.
Although Japan did not perform as well in reading as it did in the 2012 test, the OECD found that the long-term trend in the overall performance of Japanese academics is stable.
The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology cited points such as an increased emphasis on debate-based lessons, as well as students’ increased familiarity with computer-based testing in the context of increased digitalization in schools, for improved test scores. Latest survey.
In total, some 690,000 randomly selected academics from 37 OECD countries and 44 non-OECD countries and economies participated in the most recent edition of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PIA), which focuses on mathematics.
This is a smart outcome for Japan, but you have to consider the relevance of reading, math, and reading skills today.
These PISA scores also do not measure how the quality of the equation formula should be, but only the ability of academics to take the tests. Most Western countries don’t use testing much anymore and measure student functionality in other, broader ways.
So the PISA test, while valuable, has limitations such as its narrow focus on specific academic areas, potential cultural bias especially in Asian regions where testing is everything, and the risk of overemphasis on rankings leading to short-term educational fixes. It may also not fully reflect a student’s comprehensive abilities or the overall quality of an education system.
According to this PISA 2022 report, the Japanese school formula excels in the areas of math, reading, and science. And this is rarely reflected in society, there are rarely outliers.
It saddens me to see 15-year-olds do so poorly in maths, lately qualifying between Malta and the Slovak Republic.
The full effects can be seen at the link below.
https://www. oecd-ilibrary. org/education/pisa-2022-results-volume-i_53f23881-en
Testing is just controls, the main issue is how those skills are implemented in the real world. In Japan, there is also a focus on thinking outside the box, thinking in motion and critical thinking, rather than concentrating only on test results. .
2022? It’s 2024. Old news. Yawn.
> Asiaman7Today 07:09 AM JST
According to this 2022 PISA report, Japan’s education system certainly excels in the realms of mathematics, reading, and science. And that is generally reflected in society, even though there is the occasional outlier.
It saddens me to see that 15-year-olds are doing so poorly in math, lately ranking between Malta and the Slovak Republic.
The full effects can be seen at the link below.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2022-results-volume-i_53f23881-en
But the question is, what is the real price of PISA test scores?
What does this mean for society and the economy?Do higher PISA scores reflect a peak rate of productivity and innovation in Japan?Are citizens happier? Is there equality of source of income and social status?
You can’t say the high PISA results in Japan are reflected in any true value.
Lately I’ve been getting a talent check for a career advancement. At the same time, I’m reading for an SPI check. I’ve made one here before but never at home. I’m not sure if it’s closed to PISA control.
A top score reflects a highly professional person, but it is also a question of speed. Many questions are ambiguous, time-consuming and have nothing to do with the efficiency of a genuine painting.
Young Asians work out for these types of tests and have more automatisms that spread quickly.
It’s a shame that Japanese people score so low on English exams.
In recent years, the score has been lower than in previous years.
Asiaman7Today 07:09 JST
According to this PISA 2022 report, Japan’s school formula indeed excels in the areas of mathematics, reading and science. And this is regularly reflected in society, even if there are outliers.
It saddens me to see 15-year-olds do so poorly in maths, lately qualifying between Malta and the Slovak Republic.
The full effects can be seen at the link below.
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2022-results-volume-i_53f23881-en
Yes, you can say that it “excels” in terms of effects, but does that translate into concrete effects for society?
This is clearly bad, but what are the real advantages for society, the economy, and people’s happiness?
It’s not that impressive. Not much more so than in Canada, where students have 2 months off in the summer and 2 to 3 weeks off in the winter and many Fridays off and are driven to suicide.
A mentality of teaching for exams, which is precisely what exam-obsessed Japan is doing, is false education. Unfortunately, these kinds of effects and articles will only inspire members of the Ministry of Education to keep pretending that they are doing a job.
The truth is that of learning by heart, conformist and from the inside of the beaten path. The very stingy indoctrination that is positioned at the gates of the J-class is one of the main points of the lost decades, of an unproductive workforce and also of the demographic abyss. . He is a prospective and a soul crusher. Just start a verbal exchange with an average 20-year-old and observe the state of their worldview. They don’t have any concept about the world or their own history to begin with. Sorry, but those tests are a planned and convenient smokescreen. .
Well done, Japanese kids! I’ve been a big advocate for young people in Asia.
It’s not academics who don’t pass the PISA exam in Western countries, it’s academics who don’t pass the PISA exam and the world in conversion.
What is the validity, usefulness, fairness and integrity of the Pisa tests?
Does it measure what the capabilities needed for the long-term of the global in the past should look like?
This can create a culture of guilt and restrictive coaching and forget some findings about student well-being and inequality.
Most academics and teachers don’t care about PISA or exams.
Weighing the pig does make it fat.
The proliferation of superseded tests and test preparation such as PISA cannot improve educational outcomes or prepare students for the world of work, higher education, or civic participation.
Rupert SpiraToday 10:50 am JST
Ricky Kaminski13Today 10:46 am JST
A mentality of teaching for exams, which is precisely what exam-obsessed Japan is doing, is false education. Unfortunately, these kinds of effects and articles will only inspire members of the Ministry of Education to keep pretending that they are doing a job.
The truth is that of learning by heart, conformist and from the inside of the beaten path. The very stingy indoctrination that is positioned at the gates of the J-class is one of the main points of the lost decades, of an unproductive workforce and also of the demographic abyss. . He is a prospective and a soul crusher. Just start a verbal exchange with an average 20-year-old and see the state of their worldview. They don’t have any concept about the world or their own history to begin with. Sorry, but those tests are a planned and convenient smokescreen. .
Yes, very clever points. For a decade, Japan maintained the same, largely superseded school system, with very few reforms to speak of. The fact that they perform better in PISA while other countries that are economically and socially richer perform worse is very revealing.
If the scores (zero) of all Japanese 15-year-olds who committed suicide due to the harsh school formula were included, Japan’s average would be much lower.
What’s more concerning is the decline of Japanese student’s English test scores.
https://www. nippon. com/en/japan-data/h01843/
English Proficiency in Japan Continues to Decline in Non-English Speaking Countries
A survey found that Japan currently ranks 87th out of 113 non-English speaking countries and regions in terms of English language proficiency. This represents a drop of seven positions compared to last year and a low result among Asian countries.
A 2023 survey by Swiss foreign education company EF Education First, which measures the English language skills of people in 113 non-English speaking countries and regions, found that Japan ranked 87th overall and 15th among 23 countries and regions in Asia. Japan ranks fourth out of the five levels set by the company, which equates to a “low skill level” (64-90).
.
20 Philippines
25 Malaysia
29Hong Kong
49 South Korea
57 Nepal
58 Vietnam
60 Bangladesh
60 India
64 Pakistan
67 Sri Lanka
73 Mongolia
79 Indonesia
82 China
87 Japan
Samit BasuToday 11:15 AM JST
What’s more concerning is the decline of Japanese student’s English test scores.
https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h01843/
English proficiency in Japan continues to decline in non-English speaking countries
A survey found that Japan currently ranks eighty-seventh out of 113 non-English-speaking countries and regions for English language abilities. This is a fall of seven places from last year and relatively low among Asian countries.
A 2023 survey by the Swiss international education company EF Education First, which measures the English proficiency of people in 113 non-English speaking countries and regions, found that Japan ranked eighty-seventh overall and was fifteenth among the 23 Asian countries and regions. Japan is at the fourth level out of five set by the company, equating to “low proficiency” (64–90).
.
20 Philippines
25 Malaysia
29Hong Kong
49 South Korea
57 Nepal
58 Vietnam
60 Bangladesh
60 India
64 Pakistan
67 Sri Lanka
73 Mongolia
79 Indonesia
82 China
87 Japan
It’s not so much that Japanese English exams are going down, but rather that other countries are improving, right?
NHK published an article about this last night.
While they rightly praise top achievements in science and math (Japan is still doing well), emphasis has been placed on reading, the ability to perceive and solve problems.
They showed a history lesson at a public high school in Tokyo.
There, the academics listened to the instructor’s explanations and then participated in discussions, questions and answers. One woman became enthusiastic about the classes and actively participated. The instructor said that if academics could simply summarize the topic orally after completing their studies, it would be a great opportunity. success.
Commenters were equally inspired and “wow. “
That idea summed up the situation of schooling in Japan, in general.
Methods that have been de rigueur for decades or more in other complex countries are being put into practice here.
Imagine being asked, “What do you think?” or “What are the advantages and disadvantages of this action?”or “Sum this up in your own words?” etc. , etc. Not revolutionary stuff. Just the norm.
I know: decades of extracting answers and reviews from my top students from school and from the school here have been a long process of evolution. At first, they are surprised that this guy, Browny, asks questions, but they get used to and appreciate the topics discussed. and freedom of expression.
The main explanation for why interactive communication classes are the norm is that they can’t be graded using a multiple-choice test or a fill-in-the-blank test.
Most academics, after 12 years of primary and secondary education, have never written a genuine essay of a few pages describing their thoughts, opinions, or wisdom on a specific topic.
Maybe that’s changing.
to real-world problems
Computer-Based Testing
Most students after 12 years of primary 2ndary schooling have never written a real essay of a few pages outlining their thoughts or opinions or knowledge of a particular subject.
In Japan, most university academics also don’t know how to write an essay.
Perhaps it is changing.
Just don’t hold your breathe.
I’ve been researching and observing trends in Japanese schooling for two decades, and in that time, the things that have replaced them would take up a single sentence. And those PISA tests verify their determination to keep doing everything the same as they have for decades.
Studying for exams is the number one problem, only in Japan, but all over the world. When those young people find themselves in real-life conditions or scenarios, then you can see the true price of their intellect.
Sadly this is not their fault but off the broken System which teaches students material to pass the tests not to actually learn something or develop their brains by self thinking.
Want proof? Only their command of English or foreign languages, with Japan being one of the worst in the world (87th worldwide). . .