HAND IN A LOT OF COOKIE JARS: Pearson has gotten some press for working with PARCC and Smarter Balanced to support deployment of Common Core-aligned assessments, and the publishing giant is now boarding on the PISA train, according to a Pearson blogpost on December 10. The post reports that Pearson is working on the framework for the 2018 PISA international exam, planning major updates that include attempting to "redefine reading literacy," given that so much reading is conducted nowadays online, according to senior vice president for global assessment standards John De Jong.
Pearson is also assisting in the development of next year's PISA exam, which will include a section assessing students' collaboration and problem-solving skills.
Reportedly, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD (which administers the PISA worldwide) asked for Pearson's help on this, and Pearson will be tracking the test's development progress on its site. Will this redesign result in better rankings for the U.S.?