Science framework

Definition: A scientifically educated person can engage in reasoned discourse about science, sustainability and technology to inform action. This requires the competencies to: 

• Explain phenomena scientifically: Recognize, construct, apply and evaluate explanations for a range of natural and technological phenomena. 
• Construct and evaluate designs for scientific enquiry and interpret scientific data and evidence critically: Appraise and evaluate ways of investigating questions scientifically and interpret and evaluate scientific data critically. 
• Research, evaluate and use scientific information for decision making and action: Obtain scientific information on a specific global, local or personal science-related issue and evaluate its credibility, potential flaws and the implications for personal and communal decisions.

Organization of the domain along four dimensions:

• Contexts: Personal, local/national, and global issues, both current and historical, that demand some understanding of science and technology
• Knowledge: Understanding of the major facts, concepts and explanatory theories that form the basis of scientific knowledge, including
  • Content knowledge
  • Procedural knowledge
  • Epistemic knowledge
• Competencies
  • Explaining phenomena scientifically
  • Construct and evaluate designs for scientific enquiry and interpret scientific data and evidence critically 
  • Research, evaluate and use scientific information for decision making and action
• Science identity (some aspects are covered by a questionnaire)
  • Science capital and epistemic beliefs
  • Attitudes and dispositions
  • Environmental awareness, concern and agency

Mathematics framework

Definition: Mathematical literacy is an individual’s capacity to reason mathematically and to formulate, employ, and interpret mathematics to solve problems in a variety of real-world contexts. It includes concepts, procedures, facts and tools to describe, explain and predict phenomena. It assists individuals to know the role that mathematics plays in the world and to make the well-founded judgments and decisions needed by constructive, engaged and reflective 21st century citizens.

Organization of the domain along three dimensions:

• Mathematical reasoning and problem-solving processes
  • Mathematical reasoning (both deductive and inductive) 
    • Involves 
      • Evaluating situations
      • Selecting strategies
      • Drawing logical conclusions
      • Developing and describing solutions, and
      • Recognizing how those solutions can be applied
    • Students reason mathematically when they
      • Identify, recognize, organize, connect, and represent
      • Construct, abstract, evaluate, deduce, justify, explain, and defend
      • Interpret, make judgements, critique, refute, and qualify
    • Key understandings (undergirding school mathematics) that enable mathematical reasoning
      • Understanding quantity, number systems and their algebraic properties
      • Appreciating the power of abstraction and symbolic representation
      • Seeing mathematical structures and their regularities
      • Recognizing functional relationships between quantities
      • Using mathematical modelling as a lens onto the real world (e.g., those arising in the physical, biological, social, economic, and behavioral sciences)
      • Understanding variation as the heart of statistics
  • Problem solving 
    • Formulating situations mathematically
    • Employing mathematical concepts, facts, procedures, and reasoning
    • Interpreting, applying, and evaluating mathematical outcomes
• The mathematical content 
  • Targeted for use in the assessment items
    • Change and relationships, including growth phenomena
    • Space and shape, including geometric approximation
    • Quantity, including simulations
    • Uncertainty and data, including conditional decision making 
• Contexts for the assessment items and selected 21st century skills
  • Contexts
    • Personal
    • Occupational
    • Societal
    • Scientific
  • Selected 21st century skills
    • Critical thinking
    • Creativity
    • Research and inquiry
    • Self-direction, initiative, and persistence
    • Information use
    • Systems thinking
    • Communication
    • Reflection

Reading framework

Definition: Reading literacy is understanding, using, evaluating, reflecting on, and engaging with texts in order to achieve one’s goals, develop one’s knowledge and potential, and participate in society.

Organization of the domain along three dimensions:

• Reading processes
  • Text processing
  • Reading fluently
    • The ease and efficiency of reading simple texts for understanding
  • Locating information
    • Accessing and retrieving information within a piece of text
    • Searching for and selecting relevant text
  • Understanding text
    • Acquiring a representation of the literal meaning of text
    • Constructing an integrated representation of text
  • Evaluating and reflecting on text
    • Assessing its quality and credibility
    • Reflecting on content and form
    • Detecting and handling conflict
  • Metacognitive task management processes
    • Setting goals and plans
    • Monitoring
    • Regulating
• Text 
  • Source: single, multiple
  • Organizational and navigational structure: static, dynamic
  • Format: continuous texts (organized in sentences and paragraphs); non-continuous texts (e.g., lists, forms, graphs or diagrams), mixed texts
  • Type: description, narration, exposition, argumentation, instruction, interaction, transaction
• Situations
  • Refers to both the context of use and the supposed audience and purpose of the text
  • Includes: Personal; Public; Occupational and; Educational

Learning in the digital world (LDW) framework

Definition: PISA defines learning in the digital world as “the capacity to engage in an iterative and self-regulated process of knowledge building and problem solving using computational tools and practices.”

Organization of the domain along two main components, each of which is further broken down into several sub-components: 

• Computational problem-solving practices
  • Conduct experiments
  • Analyze data
  • Build and debug computational artefacts
• Self-regulated learning processes
  • Monitor progress and adapt
  • Evaluate performance
  • Maintain motivation and task engagement

In addition to the two main components of the competency model, both prior knowledge and attitudes may influence student performance on the assessment.

Foreign Language

(Forthcoming)