New PISA Test On Real World Problem Solving
04/02/2014
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The tireless PISA folks are back with the results of a test of math-related real world problem solving among 15 year olds in 44 upscale countries. (Check here for sample questions like how to find the quickest route on a map or how to adjust an air conditioner). The U.S. did not bad, scoring a little above the average for rich countries, but not as good as the Asians or the white countries with smart immigration policies (Canada, Australia, Finland). 

OECD average 500
Singapore 562
Korea 561
Japan 552
Macao-China 540
Hong Kong-China 540
Shanghai-China 536
Chinese Taipei 534
Canada 526
Australia 523
Finland 523
England (United Kingdom) 517
Estonia 515
France 511
Netherlands 511
Italy 510
Czech Republic 509
Germany 509
United States 508
Belgium 508
Austria 506
Norway 503
Ireland 498
Denmark 497
Portugal 494
Sweden 491
Russian Federation 489
Slovak Republic 483
Poland 481
Spain 477
Slovenia 476
Serbia 473
Croatia 466
Hungary 459
Turkey 454
Israel 454
Chile 448
Cyprus 1, 2 445
Brazil 428
Malaysia 422
United Arab Emirates 411
Montenegro 407
Uruguay 403
Bulgaria 402
Colombia 399
Shanghai came down to earth after its stratospheric scores on the last two PISAs. Poland was also down v. its PISA scores. Otherwise, there would appear to be a fairly high degree of correlation at the national level between the triennial PISA test of book smarts and the new PISA test of real world smarts, which is what the g Factor theory of intelligence would predict.
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