DATA

POINT

Collaborative Problem Solving 

Skills of 15-Year-Olds: 

Results From PISA 2015

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

NOVEMBER 2017 NCES 2017-249

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)

is a global education study of 15-year-old students’ reading,

mathematics, and science literacy and, in 2015, two optional

components: financial literacy and collaborative problem solving.

1

Fifty-one education systems administered the collaborative

problem solving assessment, including 32 of 35 OECD-member

education systems.2

 Students were assessed on their ability to

solve a problem by sharing the understanding and effort required

to come to a solution, and pooling their knowledge, skills and

effort to reach that solution (OECD 2017).3

 Assessment results

are reported on a scale of 0–1,000, and also in terms of the

percentage of students performing at four proficiency levels.4,5

How did U.S. 15-year-olds perform, 

on average, on the PISA collaborative 

problem solving assessment in 2015? 

• The U.S. average score of 520 was higher than the OECD 

average of 500. Average scores ranged from 382 in Tunisia 

to 561 in Singapore (figure 1).

• Students in 10 education systems had higher average scores 

than U.S. students, including 7 OECD education systems— 

Japan, Korea, Canada, Estonia, Finland, New Zealand, and 

Australia—and 3 other systems—Singapore, Hong Kong 

(China), and Macau (China).

• Students in five education systems had average scores that 

were not measurably different than the U.S. average score: 

Chinese Taipei, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom, 

and the Netherlands. Of these, four are OECD systems. 

Students in 35 education systems had average scores lower 

than U.S. students, including 20 OECD systems. 

What is the percentage distribution 

of U.S. students across the proficiency levels 

on the PISA collaborative problem solving 

assessment?

• Students scoring at the highest proficiency level—level 4—

completed complicated problem-solving tasks with high levels 

of collaboration complexity. Fourteen percent of U.S. 15-yearolds performed at proficiency level 4, which was higher than 

the OECD average of 8 percent (figure 1; see note below 

figure for details on the score ranges associated with each 

proficiency level). 

• Compared to the level 4 percentages of all education systems,

the U.S. percentage was higher than in 40 education systems,

not measurably different than in 9, and lower than in only

one—Singapore. Among OECD systems, the U.S. percentage

was higher than in 23 and not measurably different than in

8. No OECD system had a higher percentage of students

performing at level 4 than the United States.

• Some students who scored below proficiency level

2—considered below a baseline level of proficiency in

collaborative problem solving—completed low-level problems

with limited collaboration complexity, while others could not

complete even low-level tasks.6

 Nearly one-quarter of U.S.

students performed below level 2, which was lower than the

OECD average of 28 percent. Among all education systems,

the percentage scoring below level 2 ranged from 10 percent

in Japan to 84 percent in Tunisia.

• The percentage of U.S. students performing below level 2 

was lower than in 28 and higher than in 13 education systems. 

Among OECD systems, the percentage of U.S. students was 

lower than in 13 systems, not measurably different than in 9, 

and higher than in 9.

Endnotes

1 PISA is coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and 

Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized 

countries, and is conducted in the United States by NCES. More 

information about the PISA collaborative problem solving assessment 

is available at http://www.oecd.org/pisa.

2 PISA participants include countries and subnational regions such as states 

or provinces. For convenience, reference is made to “education systems” 

for all participants. Malaysia administered the collaborative problem solving 

assessment in 2015 but due to sampling issues, its data were deemed not 

comparable and are not shown here.

3 Refer to the PISA 2015 framework for additional details on the 

definition of collaborative problem solving, available at http://www.

oecd-ilibrary.org/education/pisa-2015-assessment-and-analyticalframework_9789264281820-en;jsessionid=3m26bnac3umki.x-oecd-live-03. 

4 Descriptions of the skills of students at each proficiency level can be found 

in exhibit CPS1, available at https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa/pisa2015/

index.asp.

5 Standard errors for the estimates are available at https://nces.ed.gov/

surveys/pisa/pisa2015/index.asp.

6 Below level 2 is a combination of students performing at level 1 and below 

level 1 (shown as level 1 and below in figure 1).

Reference

Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). (2017). 

PISA 2015 Assessment and Analytical Framework: Science, Reading, 

Mathematic, Financial Literacy and Collaborative Problem Solving. 

Paris: Author. 

Data in this report are from the Program for International Student 

Assessment (PISA), an international assessment of 15-year-old 

students, a sample-based survey. To learn more about PISA, visit 

http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/pisa.
Collaborative Problem Solving Skills of 15-Year-Olds: Results From PISA 2015

Figure 1. Percentage distribution of 15-year-old students on the PISA collaborative problem solving 

proficiency levels and average scores, by education system: 2015

Education system Average score s.e. Proficiency level Level 1 and below Level 2 Level 3 Level 4

OECD average 500 0.5 28 36 28 8

Singapore 561 1.2 11 28 39 21

Japan 552 2.7 10 31 44 14

Hong Kong (China) 541 2.9 14 34 40 13

Korea, Republic of 538 2.5 13 35 42 10

Canada 535 2.3 18 32 34 16

Estonia 535 2.5 15 35 37 12

Finland 534 2.6 18 32 35 14

Macau (China) 534 1.2 15 36 38 11

New Zealand 533 2.4 20 31 33 16

Australia 531 1.9 20 31 34 15

Chinese Taipei 527 2.5 17 37 36 10

Germany 525 2.8 21 34 32 13

United States 520 3.6 24 33 30 14

Denmark 520 2.5 19 39 33 9

United Kingdom 519 2.7 22 35 31 12

Netherlands 518 2.4 22 36 32 10

Sweden 510 3.4 25 36 30 9

Austria 509 2.6 25 36 30 9

Norway 502 2.5 25 39 28 7

Slovenia 502 1.8 26 39 29 6

Belgium 501 2.4 27 37 29 7

Iceland 499 2.3 27 38 28 7

Czech Republic 499 2.2 26 40 29 5

Portugal 498 2.6 26 40 28 5

Spain 496 2.1 26 42 28 4

B-S-J-G (China) 496 4.0 28 38 27 6

France 494 2.4 30 36 28 7

Luxembourg 491 1.5 31 36 26 7

Latvia 485 2.3 31 41 24 4

Italy 478 2.5 35 38 23 4

Russian Federation 473 3.4 40 20 4

Croatia 473 2.5 35 42 20 2

Hungary 472 2.4 37 37 22 3

Israel 469 3.6 42 31 22 5

Lithuania 467 2.5 39 39 20 2

Slovak Republic 463 2.4 41 38 18 3

Greece 459 3.6 42 38 18 2

Chile 457 2.7 42 40 16 1

Cyprus 444 1.7 49 36 14 2

Bulgaria 444 3.9 49 33 16 2

Uruguay 443 2.3 51 34 14 2

Costa Rica 441 2.4 50 40 10 1

Thailand 436 3.5 54 35 10 1

United Arab Emirates 435 2.4 54 32 13 2

Mexico 433 2.5 53 37 9 #!

Colombia 429 2.3 56 34 9 1

Turkey 422 3.4 59 34 7 #!

Peru 418 2.5 61 31 8 #

Montenegro, Republic of 416 1.3 62 32 6 ‡

Brazil 412 2.3 64 28 7 1

Tunisia 382 1.9 84 15 1! ‡

U.S. state education systems

Massachusetts 549 6.2 15 30 35 20

North Carolina 525 5.3 22 32 32 14

# Rounds to zero.

! Interpret data with caution. Estimate is unstable due to high coefficient of variation (>30 percent and ≤50 percent).

‡ Reporting standards not met due to coefficient of variation over 50 percent.

NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2015 average score. Scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that 

level. Students were classified into proficiency levels according to their scores. Cut scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than 340); level 1 (a score greater than or equal to 340 and less than 440); 

level 2 (a score greater than or equal to 440 and less than 540); level 3 (a score greater than or equal to 540 and less than 640); and level 4 (a score greater than or equal to 640). The OECD average 

is the average of the estimates of the 32 OECD countries that participated in the collaborative problem solving assessment, with each country weighted equally. The following OECD countries did not 

participate in the assessment: Ireland, Poland, and Switzerland. Italics indicate non-OECD countries and education systems. B-S-J-G (China) refers to the four PISA participating China provinces: Beijing, 

Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Guangdong. Results for Massachusetts and North Carolina are for public school students only. Standard error is noted by s.e. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2015.

This NCES Data Point presents information on education topics of current interest. 

It was authored by David Kastberg of Westat and Anindita Sen of the American 

Institutes for Research. Estimates based on samples are subject to sampling 

variability, and apparent differences may not be statistically significant. All noted 

differences are statistically significant at the .05 level. In the design, conduct, 

and data processing of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) surveys, 

efforts are made to minimize the effects of nonsampling errors, such as item 

nonresponse, measurement error, data processing error, or other systematic error.

Proficiency level: 

Level 1 and below

Level 2

Level 3

Level 4

 Average score is higher than U.S average score at the .05 level of statisical significance.

 Average score is lower than U.S average score at the .05 level of statisical significance.

100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100

100 80 60 40 20 0 20 40 60 80 100

Percent

Percent

36 28

11 28 39

10 31 44

14 34 40

13 35 42

18 32 34

15 35 37

18 32 35

15 36 38

20 31 33

20 31 34

17 37 36

21 34 32

24 33 30

19 39 33

22 35 31

22 36 32

25 36 30

25 36 30

25 39 28

26 39 29

27 37 29

27 38 28

26 40 29

26 40 28

26 42 28

28 38 27

30 36 28

31 36 26

31 41 24

35 38 23

37 40 20

35 42 20

37 37 22

42 31 22

39 39 20

41 38 18 3

42 38 18

42 40 16

49 36 14

49 33 16

51 34 14

50 40 10

54 35 10

54 32 13

53 37 9

56 34 9

59 34 7

61 31 8

62 32 6

64 28 7

84 15 1! 

22

30

32

35

32

20

14

15

28 8

21

14

13

10

16

12

14

11

16

15

10

13

14

9

12

10

9

9

7

6

7

7

5

5

4

6

7

7

4

4

4

2

3

3

5

2

2

1

2

2

2

1

1

2

#!

1

#!

#

‡

1

‡