1. How many schools and how many students participated in PISA 2006 in Germany?
2. Where can I find sample tasks from PISA 2006?
3. Why are not all PISA tasks open to the public?
4. Which countries participate in PISA?
5. What is the main aim of PISA?
6. Which subjects are tested in PISA?
7. Who develops the tasks? Can they be compared internationally?
8. Is it possible to compare things that are taught in different schools in different parts of the world?
9. Are the students who are selected in the different countries comparable and representative for all students in their countries?
10. How long do the tests take?
11. How is the study financed?
12. What are educational standards?
13. Further FAQs

How many schools and how many students participated in PISA 2006 in Germany?
4891 students from a total of 225 schools in Germany took part in PISA 2006.

Where can I find sample tasks from PISA 2006?
Some of the PISA tasks have been made available to the public. If you would like to view these tasks, please click here.

Why are not all PISA tasks open to the public?
Developing tasks, internationally coordinating them and checking their quality in pilot studies is a very complex process. The result of this process is an extensive catalogue of tasks whose quality is ensured and which can be used in further assessments.
However, this is only possible as long as the tasks are not publicly known. For example, in PISA 2006, some of the tasks from PISA 2000 and PISA 2003 were used again. This was done in order to enable a comparison between the competencies assessed across the individual PISA assessments.

Which countries participate in PISA?
PISA is an internationally designed comparative study in which all OECD member countries participate. However, other countries can, in principal, also take part. Countries that are interested in participating can apply to the OECD (List of countries participating in PISA 2006).

What is the main aim PISA?
PISA's aim is to provide the participating countries with information about students' basic competencies at the end of their compulsory schooling on a regular basis. In this way, (cautious) statements about the effectiveness of individual countries' educational systems can be made. On this basis measures can be taken to improve educational systems.

Which subjects are tested in PISA?
PISA does not test knowledge from certain subjects, but rather basic competencies of young people at the end of their compulsory schooling. These competencies relate to reading, mathematics and science.

Who develops the tasks? Can they be compared internationally?
The tasks that were incorporated into the PISA test booklets have been carefully designed by experts in the corresponding subject areas. All tasks were empirically tested in a multi-step procedure before they were chosen for the PISA test. A pre-test (the so-called field trial) checked whether the tasks were comparably suitable for young people in all of the participating countries and thus whether the answers to these tasks can be compared between countries. Only such tasks were used for the main study. In PISA, the participating countries all use the same set of tasks translated into their respective national language.

Is it possible to compare things that are taught in different schools in different parts of the world?
PISA does not try to assess how well teachers are getting course content across to their students but rather assesses basic competencies which students should have acquired by the end of their compulsory schooling. These competencies span cultures (reading literacy, mathematical literacy and scientific literacy).

Are the students who are selected in the different countries comparable and representative for all students in their countries?
The sampling procedure in the participating countries is carried out according to detailed instructions given by the international project management. In the first step, the school systems of the participating countries were sub-divided according to central characteristics, such as regions (states, provinces, cantons etc.) and types of school. Within these sub-divisions (in Germany: types of school within federal states), the schools were then selected at random. Representative samples of all German types of schools that have 15-year-old students are thereby drawn (Upper Secondary School - Gymnasium, Intermediate Secondary School - Realschulen, Lower Secondary School - Hauptschulen, schools with several educational levels, comprehensive schools, schools for students with special educational needs, vocational schools). In the second step, the selection of students is also carried out at random. The project management supervises the sampling procedure. If a country's data is not representative - for example, if students' response rate was too low (as was the case in the Netherlands in PISA 2000 or in the United Kingdom in PISA 2003), then this country's data is not included in the international comparison.

How long do the tests take?
In order not to overtax the students, each student only has to answer a certain selection of the entire set of tasks. Students have two hours to complete the test. The test is constructed in such a manner that there is enough time to complete the tasks.

How is the study financed?
In Germany, PISA is financed on the one hand by the federal states (the KMK - Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany) and on the other hand by the BMBF - the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. The KMK finances the national researchers; the BMBF makes a financial contribution to the international expert groups of the OECD.

What are educational standards?
The educational standards passed by the KMK pick up on general educational goals and determine which competencies students should have acquired in a subject area by a certain grade. Educational standards concentrate on the main areas of a subject and describe the expected learning outcome. They provide the federal states (Länder), the schools, teachers, students and parents with an orientation of what must be learnt in school by which grade. Educational standards thereby facilitate a continuous testing of whether the competencies aimed at are actually acquired. Within the frame of PISA 2006, tasks were tested which can be used to examine how well the formulated requirements of educational standards in mathematics for the intermediate school leaving certificate are met.

Further FAQs
Further FAQs can be found on the following website:
  www.mpib-berlin.mpg.de/pisa/faq.htm