A comparison study of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 and the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2013 mathematics assessments

In the United States, nationally representative data on student achievement come primarily from two sources: the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)—also known as “The Nation’s Report Card”—and U.S. participation in international assessments, including the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Together, these national and international sources provide important information on the performance of U.S. students in key subjects, such as mathematics, science, and reading. While the national assessment provides data on achievement that is tailored to students’ school experiences in the United States, the international assessments allow U.S. student performance to be benchmarked to that of students in other countries. In the winter of 2013, assessment results in the area of mathematics were released for eighthgraders in NAEP 2013 and the 15-year-olds assessed in PISA 2012. NCES thus commissioned a study to compare the two mathematics assessments so that researchers, educators, the mathematics community, and the public could gain a deeper understanding of the similarities and differences in the mathematics assessed in each program and what each assessment contributes to the knowledge base about U.S. students’ mathematics performance.