Philosophical Insights into PISA and Mathematics Education Policy Issues

The mathematical attainment of schoolchildren around the world is assessed in PISA (the Programme for International Student Assessment), which is administered on a three-yearly cycle by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). PISA is purported to provide valid and reliable comparisons of students’ mathematical achievements in a range of different national education systems, and the results can have major implications for the mathematics education policies of these nations, sometimes leading to policy-borrowing from high-performing countries/regions. Aspects of Ludwig Wittgenstein’s later philosophy of mind are used to problematize an over-reliance on the use of PISA to inform policy decisions in mathematics education. It is suggested that, when PISA is viewed through a later Wittgensteinian lens, a potential deficiency in the underpinning psychometric model, pertaining to the inherent indeterminism in unmeasured mathematical abilities, may weaken PISA’s utility in guiding mathematics education policy decisions.