The most socio-economically advantaged students in the United States and in Hong Kong performed at about the same level on collaborative problem solving skills on PISA 2015. However, the most disadvantaged students in the U.S. performed more than a year behind students from the same socio-economic quartile in Hong Kong. While the U.S. manages to teach a high level of 21st century skills to our most privileged students, Hong Kong is teaching such skills to all of their students. For more, read Marc Tucker’s review of how 21st century skills are taught in Hong Kong and neighboring Asian countries, see CIEB’s Hong Kong profile, or read the Hong Kong early childhood education and care case study from the recent Early Advantage study from NCEE.
In the latest iteration of PISA, students were tested on two new measures of 21st century skills: financial literacy and global competence. Stay tuned for CIEB’s coverage of how the U.S. compares on these measures and more when results are released in December.
