In today’s rapidly evolving education landscape, understanding how students learn, and how school systems can best support them, has never been more important. Few initiatives shed light on that challenge as clearly as the OECD’s PISA for Schools program. To explore how this global benchmarking tool is helping educators drive meaningful improvement, we sat down with Tanja Vujičić, Senior Analyst and Project Leader for PISA for Schools at the OECD.
In this Q&A, Tanja discusses the goals of the program, the critical role ETS plays in developing high‑quality assessment materials, and how PISA for Schools is shaping the future of international educational measurement. She also offers a glimpse into what’s ahead as the OECD continues refining tools that help schools around the world better understand student learning and prepare for the demands of tomorrow.
How would you describe the PISA for Schools program and its core purpose? How does it differ or build on the main PISA assessment that many people know?
Vujičić: PISA for Schools is an extension of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which assesses 15-year-olds across the globe in reading, mathematics, and science. While the main PISA report enables countries to compare their education systems, PISA for Schools produces confidential school-level reports that allow school leaders to benchmark their students performance against students in other schools and national averages. So far, schools from twenty countries participated in PISA for Schools and more countries are joining each year.
PISA for Schools core purpose is to support school improvement by giving schools detailed insights into:
- Students ability to apply knowledge in reading, mathematics, and science
- Key factors influencing learning, such as school climate, home background, motivation, and socio‑emotional skills
By focusing on schools rather than systems, the project provides practical evidence for teachers and school leaders to identify strengths, address challenges, and support teaching, learning, and student well‑being.
Why is benchmarking against international standards valuable at the school level, and what unique insights does PISA for Schools provide to educators and administrators?
Vujičić: Benchmarking against international standards helps schools see their performance in a broader context and understand whether their students are developing the competencies needed in a rapidly changing world. It allows school leaders to spot strengths and gaps that may not be visible through national or local comparisons alone.
PISA for Schools adds unique value by providing evidence not only on academic skills, but also on students’ motivation, well‑being, socio‑emotional skills, and perceptions of their learning environment. It highlights differences across gender and socio‑economic groups, giving schools a clearer picture of equity and inclusion.
Importantly, PISA for Schools considers high‑performing schools as those that do well academically and holistically, reflecting strong results in areas like well‑being, resilience, and motivation, not just reading, mathematics, and science.
What are some of the most meaningful ways schools and systems have used PISA for Schools results to drive improvement? Are there any trends or success stories from participating schools globally that you think are particularly illustrative of the program’s impact?
Vujičić: Our case study research project revealed that schools participating in PISA for Schools have strengthened three key areas:
- Using evidence to drive school improvement: Schools have leveraged assessment results to refine their curriculum, enhance pedagogical practices, and inform professional development strategies.
- Promoting inclusion, equity, and student well-being: Many schools have used their results to design initiatives that support inclusion and increase students’ motivation for learning, integrating equity and well-being into their strategic planning.
- Fostering collaboration and community engagement: Participation in PISA for Schools has encouraged greater collaboration across schools, networks, and communities, amplifying the impact of initiatives inspired by the evidence provided.
We have compiled ten success stories from participating schools around the world that demonstrate how PISA for Schools has influenced their teaching and learning practices. We will soon release a short paper called PISA for Schools in Focus that highlights these cases.
ETS has been a longstanding partner to the OECD. How would you describe the collaboration between the OECD and ETS on PISA for Schools? How has this partnership evolved over time, and what aspects of working with ETS have been most valuable to the program’s success?
Vujičić: ETS has long been a trusted partner of the OECD, and through a competitive process it was selected as the exclusive International Platform Provider for PISA for Schools. Since 2025, thousands of schools worldwide have been using the ETS platform to deliver the assessment. The platform is already available in many languages, with more added as the project expands to new schools and countries.
Our collaboration with ETS has been extremely valuable. ETS has consistently shown flexibility in adapting to diverse country needs and has provided not only a high‑quality testing platform but also strong, individualized support throughout implementation. As PISA for Schools has grown rapidly in recent months, ETS has played a key role continuously integrating improvements, responding quickly to emerging needs, and supporting our research efforts. This collaboration has been central to the project’s success.
What innovations or enhancements are you most excited about for the future of the program?
Vujičić: PISA for Schools is a highly dynamic and ambitious project, with numerous innovations in progress, including new engaging item types, real‑time personalized feedback, and much more.
As learning environments evolve, we want our assessment to evolve with them. When PISA for Schools was first created, it was a paper‑based assessment; as students moved to computers, we shifted to digital delivery. Now, with the rise of AI, we are adapting once again, while carefully maintaining comparability with previous cycles to ensure reliable trend analysis. We are more flexible than the main PISA, which allows us to pilot new ideas in a smaller, safer environment.
Our participating countries and schools are very supportive of innovation and often eager to test new approaches with us. This was true when we introduced the socio‑emotional skills measure in 2019, or again now as we begin using AI to code open‑ended responses.
These developments make the future of PISA for Schools particularly exciting, as we continue refining the assessment to better support teaching, learning, and student well‑being.
How do you envision PISA for Schools evolving to meet the needs of diverse education systems across different regions of the world?
Vujičić: We are proud to support schools from a wide range of backgrounds and contexts, from rural schools without computer labs or internet access, to highly advantaged urban schools. Regardless of their context, schools consistently find value in PISA for Schools data and appreciate the opportunity to exchange experiences and learn from other schools around the world.
PISA for Schools is able to meet diverse school needs and priorities. While some schools primarily use it to compare student performance in reading, mathematics, and science, an increasing number are also emphasizing non-cognitive skills, such as student well-being, motivation, peer relationships, and socio-emotional development.
What role do you see data and international benchmarking playing in educational decision-making over the next decade?
Vujičić: At the school level, I hope that data will increasingly be used to support decision-making, as well as to monitor and evaluate the impact of any changes. PISA for Schools data, by allowing schools to compare themselves with international standards, helps identify both strengths and areas for improvement, enabling schools to take informed action. Schools that successfully implement positive changes (whether in academic performance, student well-being, or both) serve as ambassadors for others, sharing best practices and lessons learned.
In the context of rapid technological change, globalization, and complex societal challenges, students need a broad set of cognitive, social, and emotional competencies, including creativity, critical thinking, collaboration, resilience, and empathy. The role of education is to equip students with these skills, but school leaders and educators also need to demonstrate them: applying critical thinking in school management, creativity in making innovative decisions, and collaboration in addressing challenges.
To do this effectively, principals, teachers, and educators should base their decisions on high-quality international data, benchmark against other schools, learn from others’ experiences, and remain open to change. In this way, international benchmarking and data can drive meaningful improvements in both academic outcomes and the holistic development of students.
If you could convey one message to school leaders considering the program, what would you want them to know?
Vujičić: I would encourage them to join the 16,000 schools worldwide that have already implemented the test. PISA for Schools supports any school that wishes to improve, make a difference, and learn from others. Whether a school has a privileged student profile and aims to compare its high academic performance with the best in the world, or whether it is a lower-performing school seeking to learn from others with similar challenges, there is a place for every school. Every participating school receives a School Report containing rich, detailed data that compares its performance with international standards. However, PISA for Schools is more than a test with a report: it is a community where school leaders learn from one another, and this shared learning can deeply influence their school’s improvement journey.