The learning crisis of adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean: A first look at the new PISA results

Par Ferdinando Regalía- - Jaime Saavedra

estudiante latinoamericano con mochila y carpeta

Last week saw the release of new data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), implemented by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Fifteen-year-old students from fourteen Latin American and Caribbean countries participated in this international large-scale student assessment, which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this assessment provide important evidence on what adolescents in the region know and can do in mathematics, reading, and science as well as additional information on how they feel about school, what their learning experience was during the pandemic, and what resources their schools have to provide a good and welcoming learning environment.

  • First, 15-year-olds in most Latin American countries face a deep learning crisis with strong socioeconomic disparities. 75 percent of students are below basic proficiency level in mathematics and 55 percent of students are below proficiency level in reading, on average, in the region. This means that these adolescents cannot demonstrate the knowledge needed to participate effectively and productively in society and in future learning. On average, 88 percent of the most vulnerable students in the region are low performers in mathematics, compared to 55 percent among the wealthiest. Gender gaps in performance differ by subject, with boys generally lagging in reading and outperforming girls in mathematics. Considering the importance of strengthening foundational skills during the adolescent years for individual success, including future employability and earnings in the rapidly changing world of work, and for development more generally, these results present a very concerning signal about future productivity and growth potential.
  • Second, there is a wide gap in learning outcomes between OECD and LAC students. All 14 LAC countries, except Chile for reading, are ranked below OECD countries (see Figures 1 and 2 below). Using a simple metric, for mathematics, the shortfall in scores of the average LAC student vis-à-vis an average student in the OECD is equivalent to 5 years of schooling.

Download and learn more: PISA 2022 in Latin America and The Caribbean: How did the region fare? (In Spanish)

 

  • Fourth, this picture of low and unequal learning levels and setbacks in learning proficiency between 2018 and 2022 can be only partially attributed to the pandemic losses. The new PISA data is the first international learning assessment after the pandemic, but it also reflects changes from roughly one year before 2020 (two years before for Paraguay, which participated in PISA for Development in 2017) and one year after. But the contribution of the pandemic to this bleak picture can also be validated by the near-universal learning losses observed in primary education for all the countries with updated national assessments. Losses for secondary students are likely to be smaller than for primary school students, as suggested by country evidence confirming also the cumulative nature of skills development. The students we are observing in the 2022 PISA were already 13 by the time schools closed, and they were likely more familiar with technology, access to which was ramped up in most countries of the region, and more able to learn independently. We have been most concerned about learning losses, among children in early childhood education ages and, for schoolchildren in grades 2 to 6, since foundational literacy skills are acquired during those grades, and if recovery does not continue, we may see large gaps in the next PISA round. Finally, and interestingly, some countries have already started to recover learning by 2022, building on the growing commitment of LAC countries to learning recovery and acceleration and the actions already taken in 2021 and 2022 by some of them, such as the prioritization of curricula on foundational skills, the targeted support to low achievers, and the enhanced technology deployment.

So, what do these findings mean for education policymakers and practitioners in the region? We propose three policy priorities:

  1. In view of the very high shares of students below basic proficiency and the negative trends in mathematics, take immediate action to recover the learning losses in math outcomes for adolescent learners, including tutoring interventions, potentially using EdTech solutions.
  2. Take action to improve and strengthen outcomes in other subjects (including reading and science), ensuring that half of the students who are lagging behind can catch up.
  3. Continue to emphasize recovery and acceleration efforts in reading and math for primary education students who have been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and who would be part of the next rounds of PISA assessments.

Policies cannot be implemented if the right level of resources is not allocated. OECD countries invest per student on average three times as much as LAC countries over their learning trajectory: $102,612 versus $36,972. But not only increasing investments is important. Countries should also spend better: in all countries in LAC with data, performance in math is below what their level of investment predicts.

The World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank are looking forward to digging deeper into the PISA data to understand how 2022 results and changes from the 2018 wave differ by different student and school characteristics, including access to digital technology in the learning process. This analysis will be carried out jointly.  Stay tuned.

 

Ferdinando Regalía

Ferdinando Regalía, an Italian citizen, is the Manager of the Social Sector (SCL) since October 16th, 2021. Prior to his appointment, Ferdinando served as the Chief of the IDB Social Protection and Health (SPH) Division. In this capacity, Ferdinando oversaw IDB support to its borrowing member countries’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the areas of social protection and health. During his tenure as SPH Chief, from 2010 to 2021, Ferdinando and his team led the implementation of innovative public–private partnerships and results-based financing mechanisms to tackle health inequities, such as the Mesoamerica Health Initiative. Ferdinando promoted research activities and projects that fostered quality- and sustainability-enhancing strategies in health, early childhood development and social protection and inclusion services, working on a range of enabling factors, including a more robust adoption of digital tools. From 2008 to 2009, Ferdinando served as advisor to the Vice President for Sectors and Knowledge of the IDBG, providing quality oversight of operations as well as of the economic and sector research agenda of the Vice Presidency. In 2007, he served as Chief of Social Policy and Economics at United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in South Africa providing technical assistance on design, financing, and implementation of social protection programs to governments and non-governmental organizations in Southern Africa. Previously, Ferdinando worked as Social Development Specialist in the former Social Division of the Regional Operations Department 2 of the IDB, which he joined in 2000 as part of the Young Professionals Program. Ferdinando holds a PhD in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, Spain.

 

Jaime Saavedra

Jaime Saavedra is the Director of Human Development for Latin America and the Caribbean at the World Bank. Previously, he led the institution’s Global Education Practice. Between 2013 and 2016 he served as Minister of Education of Peru. During his tenure, he promoted a teachers’ career reform, an expansion of full-time secondary, and a bold university reform. The performance of Peru’s education system improved substantially as measured by international learning assessments. Prior to assuming this role, he was Global Director for Poverty Reduction and Equity and Acting Vice-President of Poverty Reduction and Economic Management at the World Bank, where he co-led the establishment of the twin goals of Eliminating Extreme Poverty and pursuing Shared Prosperity, which continues guiding the work of the institution. Throughout his career, Dr. Saavedra, a Peruvian national, has led groundbreaking work in the areas of poverty and inequality, labor markets, the economics of education, and the use of data and evidence in public policy. He has held positions at the Inter-American Development Bank, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, the International Labor Organization, LACEA, and the National Council of Labor in Peru. He has been the Executive Director of Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE), a leading think tank in Peru. He has also held teaching positions and Universidad Católica of Peru, and the University of Toronto. He is currently a board member of Teach for All, the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel, and the High-Level Council on Leadership & Management for Development of the Aspen Institute. Dr. Saavedra holds a Ph.D. in economics from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the Catholic University of Peru

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