Summary of Activities

Program for International
Student Assessment
PISA 2009
Summary of Activities for Schools
When will data collection take place?
The assessment will take place during the fall of 2009. A
PISA staff member will work with your school to establish
a convenient date for the assessment.
Who will be asked to take part in the
assessment?
PISA staff will work with your school to select a random
sample of up to 42 15-year-old students. These students
will be tested in a group.
Who conducts the assessment?
Trained PISA staff will administer the assessment and
provide all the required materials. Thus, teachers will not
need to set aside time for administering the assessment.
Will the school, staff members, and students
receive compensation for their time and
effort?
Yes. For your participation in PISA 2009, your school
will receive $200. Also, school principals will be asked
to designate a School Coordinator (such as a school
counselor or teacher) to work with PISA staff on withinschool arrangements. The School Coordinator will receive
$100. Each student who participates in the assessment will
receive $20, if such payments are approved by the school
principal.
What is involved for school staff and
students?
• Schools will be asked to designate a School
Coordinator to work with PISA staff on withinschool arrangements.
• The school principal or a designee will be asked to
complete a 30-minute school questionnaire that
asks about characteristics of the school and its
environment.
• Students will be asked to take part in an assessment
that is divided into two parts. The first part is a
reading, mathematics, and science assessment that
will last about 2 hours and is separated into two
sessions with a break in the middle. After another
break, students will be asked to complete a Student
Questionnaire, which will take about 30 minutes.

What is involved for the School Coordinator?
Before the assessment, the School Coordinator will be
asked to:
• Provide a list of all 15-year-old students in the school;
• Review parent notification requirements;
• Work with PISA staff to schedule the assessment and
secure a large, quiet space for testing (space for up to
42 students);
• Work with PISA staff to identify students with special
needs who will not be asked to participate in the
assessment;
• Notify parents, teachers, and students concerning the
students who have been selected to take part and the
benefits of participation;
• Confirm the final list of the sampled students;
• Confirm the date and location for the testing;
• Receive the school questionnaire and distribute and
collect it from the principal or designee; and
• Remind the students of the time and place of the
assessment and urge them to attend.
On assessment day, the School Coordinator will be asked
to:
• Ensure that the testing room is available and set up for
testing; and
• Provide assistance to ensure that selected students
attend the assessment session.
PISA requires very high student participation rates, and
data from individual schools will not be counted unless
most of the selected students attend the assessment. Thus
it is extremely important that attendance rates are high
in order to avoid the need for a makeup session.

More Information on PISA
What is PISA?
PISA is an international assessment designed by
participating countries and administered to 15-year-old
students in schools around the world. PISA reports on
performance in reading, mathematics, and science literacy
every three years, with emphasis on one subject in each data
collection cycle. PISA began in 2000 focusing on reading
literacy. PISA focused on mathematics literacy in 2003 and
science literacy in 2006. In 2009, reading literacy again
will be the primary focus. Educators throughout the U.S.
benefit from PISA by having a greater understanding of
how 15-year-olds in the U.S. compare in terms of reading,
mathematics, and science knowledge and skills with similar
students worldwide.
PISA is sponsored by the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) and managed in
the United States by the National Center for Education
Statistics (NCES), part of the U.S. Department of
Education.
Do schools and students have to participate?
Although participation is voluntary, it is important that
every selected school and student participate to ensure
the completeness and accuracy of results. Each school and
student represents many others. Thus, the validity of results
depends upon a high participation rate.

What confidentiality protections are included in
the assessment?
The list of schools and students included in PISA 2009
will be confidential. Student names will not be linked to
assessment results or questionnaire responses on any data
files (unique ID numbers will be used), and individual
student scores or responses will never be reported.
If you have any questions about the PISA 2009, please feel
free to contact the PISA staff at [email protected] or
on the toll-free number at 1-888-270-6227.