Let's go back to PISA!

BarcelonaEach new edition of PISA causes a small storm. For a few days, the scores, rankings, and comparisons between countries occupy headlines and talk shows. Some use the results to show that the education system is in crisis; others remind us that education cannot be reduced to a test taken by fifteen-year-old students. Both statements contain a grain of truth, but neither one is very useful on its own.Every time we are horrified again by the results we obtain, we list all the evils of the system and we think –with good will– of proposals for improvement and even, as in the previous call, we convene a group of experts to provide a complete proposal of measures. Or we ask for an opinion from the horse's mouth –the OECD– so that it presents a proposal that coincides in large part with that of our experts.What can we say that is new from a first analysis of the PISA 2025 results? To begin with, we cannot ignore the inexplicable error in the selection of the student sample in Catalonia, which has meant that we do not have comparable results. But, furthermore, the results have not been good, despite the problems related to the sample.At a national level, results have worsened over the last decade and the number of students who do not achieve basic competencies has increased. But there is a characteristic that seems even more significant to me: Spain maintains a proportion of students that exceeds minimum levels similar to that of the OECD, but has far fewer students at the levels of excellence. The problem, therefore, does not consist only of preventing some from falling behind. It is also necessary to ensure that everyone advances and that those who can go further also reach there.But the most worrying thing continues to be the results related to the educational and social context. Absenteeism is especially high: 34% of Spanish students report having missed at least one day of class during the two weeks prior to the test, compared to 22% in the OECD. Furthermore, this percentage has increased since 2022.And it is necessary to remember a very significant piece of data from the 2022 report: the disaffection and lack of trust of students towards the school. It must be kept very much in mind that, in the latest OECD studies on teaching quality, the importance of the classroom climate and socio-affective bonding are pointed out as two key aspects for good learning.Another change that PISA studies is the emergence of artificial intelligence. 54% of Spanish students use AI chatbots to learn at least once a week, compared to 46% of the OECD average. They use them to search for information, summarize texts, and even write assignments. The educational question is no longer, therefore, whether students will use AI, but how to teach them to use it without delegating their thinking to it. Denying the problem does not solve it; it aggravates it.What would I do, then, after PISA 2025? Fewer express reforms and more continuity: reinforcing reading, mathematics, and scientific reasoning; acting on absenteeism and classroom climate; working in the classroom to make good use of AI, and rigorously evaluating the policies that are applied.We need, above all, to face the problems without looking for excuses and avoid using PISA as a political weapon, in one direction or the other. The data should not serve to confirm what everyone already thought before seeing it.The educational solution in our country involves –and we will not tire of saying it– reaching a consensus on educational policies that go beyond electoral cycles. Our educational system needs stability and time; it needs global pacts and generosity. Under no circumstances should we use education as an electoral weapon or turn it into a battleground over methodologies.It should be remembered that PISA questions are competency-based: they do not assess isolated content, but rather the ability of our students to apply knowledge and solve new situations. Therefore, we must also move towards more competency-based and relevant learning.Perhaps this is the most important lesson. The goal is not to climb a few places in the next PISA. It is much more ambitious and relevant: to ensure that fewer students are left behind, that many more go far, and that everyone leaves school better prepared and with the confidence to think for themselves.