{"canonicalUrl":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","content":{"author":"Anton Skriver","blocks":[{"level":2,"text":"Start by checking the comparison","type":"heading"},{"text":"Use three questions to organise a staff discussion: what changed in the comparison, which explanations remain open, and what your team can investigate. Begin by checking the reported period and country group. Then bring the discussion back to a specific reading difficulty you can assess and support.","type":"paragraph"},{"links":[{"end":65,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf","start":15,"text":"PISA 2025 Results, Volume I: Future-Ready Students"}],"text":"OECD published PISA 2025 Results, Volume I: Future-Ready Students on 8 September 2026. PISA assesses sampled 15-year-old students applying knowledge in reading, mathematics and science. The assessment year is 2025; the publication year is 2026.","type":"paragraph"},{"links":[{"end":103,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf#page=310","start":95,"text":"Annex A1"}],"text":"The preface reports a 28-point fall in average OECD reading performance between 2015 and 2025. Annex A1 separately reports falls of 11 points in 2018-2022 and 14 points in 2022-2025 across 35 OECD countries with comparable data. These are score points, not percentages. The periods and comparison groups matter; no figure describes every country.","type":"paragraph"},{"level":2,"text":"What the results can and cannot tell you","type":"heading"},{"links":[{"end":339,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf#page=328","start":324,"text":"technical notes"}],"text":"Successive PISA cycles compare different samples of 15-year-olds; they do not track the same learners over time. Sampling uncertainty, coverage and cross-cycle measurement error qualify comparisons. OECD considers the decline unlikely to be only a measurement artefact, but that does not identify a cause. Read the report's technical notes before interpreting a small difference or a country ranking.","type":"paragraph"},{"text":"A school therefore needs two distinct questions: \"What might explain this wider pattern?\" and \"What support do our students need?\" You can act on a well-evidenced local need without claiming to have solved the first question. Equally, a plausible account of national trends does not establish that a proposed intervention will help your particular learners.","type":"paragraph"},{"level":2,"text":"Keep possible explanations open to testing","type":"heading"},{"links":[{"end":78,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf#page=310","start":70,"text":"Annex A1"}],"text":"OECD discusses attentive reading and earlier-age learning patterns in Annex A1. Differences between reading processes were clearer in 2018-2022; across 2018-2025, declines were more uniform across processes, while differences by text length persisted. These patterns offer leads about skills and timing. Measured fatigue generally does not explain the trend, and the analysis does not establish what caused the changes.","type":"paragraph"},{"links":[{"end":61,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf#page=228","start":52,"text":"Chapter 4"}],"text":"The digital-use and AI findings discussed here from Chapter 4 concern science scores. They do not directly estimate effects on reading. Box I.4.2 says these relationships cannot determine causality. Students' prior difficulties may affect how they use a tool, and other differences may affect both use and outcomes. Statistical adjustment does not remove every alternative explanation.","type":"paragraph"},{"text":"Use the following table as a discussion aid. It is an editorial set of hypotheses and possible checks, not an OECD list of proven causes. A better test may require research beyond a school's own monitoring; the local checks help define the question, not settle national causation.","type":"paragraph"},{"columns":["Possible explanation","Pattern to investigate","Evidence and limits","A better test"],"rows":[["Sustained reading or attention","Difficulty maintaining understanding through a text.","OECD discusses attentive reading; rushing and weak understanding may be intertwined.","Look at errors and explanations as well as completion time. Test a specific support against an appropriate comparison."],["Earlier learning conditions","Difficulties that predate the present class or school stage.","Earlier-age patterns can suggest timing; they do not identify one cause.","Review earlier assessments and teaching histories. Distinguish cohort patterns from changes in the same learners."],["Purpose of digital use","Different tasks, tools and reasons for using them.","The selected Chapter 4 findings concern science associations, not reading intervention effects.","Define the tool and use precisely. Seek intervention evidence before changing a policy on this basis."],["Access to teaching and support","Unequal opportunities to practise and receive help.","A question for local investigation, not a causal conclusion from an OECD average.","Review attendance, access and actual support delivered alongside reading needs, without labelling groups."],["Measurement and context","Changes in who was assessed or how results were compared.","OECD argues measurement alone is an unlikely explanation.","Check coverage, uncertainty and comparable populations before drawing a trend line."]],"type":"comparison_table"},{"level":2,"text":"Choose reading support from intervention evidence","type":"heading"},{"links":[{"end":99,"href":"https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/PracticeGuide/29/Published","start":65,"text":"IES/What Works Clearinghouse guide"}],"text":"For support decisions, use research that evaluates teaching. The IES/What Works Clearinghouse guide addresses reading interventions for students with reading difficulties in grades 4-9. It is a separate evidence base from PISA, with four recommendations and explicit evidence ratings.","type":"paragraph"},{"items":["Decoding, strong evidence: explicitly help students work out unfamiliar words, including longer words with several syllables.","Fluency, strong evidence: use purposeful practice with feedback to develop accurate, increasingly effortless reading. Treat speed as part of a wider reading picture.","Comprehension, strong evidence: develop vocabulary and background knowledge, work with questions, establish the gist, and teach students to notice when understanding breaks down.","Challenging text, moderate evidence: support students to make sense of demanding material instead of expecting them to manage it unaided."],"ordered":false,"type":"list"},{"links":[{"end":149,"href":"https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/Docs/PracticeGuide/WWC-practice-guide-reading-intervention-full-text.pdf","start":139,"text":"full guide"}],"text":"These ratings describe the guide's recommendation evidence. They are not predicted gains for your school or a fixed timetable. Consult the full guide to select and combine practices around assessed needs, staff expertise and available teaching time. Its grade range and reading-difficulty focus do not automatically cover every PISA participant.","type":"paragraph"},{"text":"The evidence review excluded general class-wide reading interventions, and many tested interventions combined several components. It cannot tell us the effect of one isolated classroom activity.","type":"paragraph"},{"text":"Language matters too. The guide does not establish identical results for Danish-, Spanish- or Italian-language teaching. Ask a qualified reading specialist how its practices fit the language of instruction and the learner's history. Do not assume the language a student is learning tells you which reading support they need.","type":"paragraph"},{"level":2,"text":"Make one local decision you can review","type":"heading"},{"text":"The following process is an editorial proposal for a staff team. It is not a validated intervention. Keep the workload modest enough that the team can deliver the chosen support and examine what happened.","type":"paragraph"},{"items":["Define the need. Use existing reading assessments, a small sample of student work and a conversation with the relevant teachers. Specify the difficulty you want to understand: identifying words, reading fluently, understanding vocabulary or making sense of connected text.","Check the context. Consider attendance, opportunities to learn, language experience and support already provided. Involve students in describing what helps or obstructs their reading. Keep identifiable work within the school's normal privacy and safeguarding arrangements. Check whether materials, time and help are available at school, and whether students feel able to ask for support. Offer families accessible information and a contact route without making participation depend on parental English, purchases or subject knowledge.","Choose a bounded response. Agree who will teach it, what preparation is needed and how it fits existing provision. Read the relevant intervention guidance before selecting materials. Record the purpose so that a resource or device does not become the goal.","Set a review point. Choose a suitable follow-up task and interval with the reading specialist. Keep assessment conditions reasonably comparable and note what teaching students actually received. Include whether the work is manageable for learners and staff.","Review and adapt. Look beyond a class average and check who still needs help. A before-and-after change can inform your next decision, but without a suitable comparison it cannot show that your chosen support caused the change. Continue, adapt or seek specialist advice accordingly."],"ordered":true,"type":"list"},{"text":"Review participation, belonging and students' opportunities to influence the work alongside reading progress. Treat them as worthwhile outcomes in their own right, rather than combining them into a reading score. Follow the school's existing support arrangements when a student needs help.","type":"paragraph"},{"links":[{"end":127,"href":"/impact/21st-century-skills-global-classroom-projects/","start":99,"text":"guide to 21st-century skills"}],"text":"For a broader discussion of observing communication and critical thinking in project work, see our guide to 21st-century skills. Those learning aims can complement a curriculum; the article does not establish that collaboration projects reverse national reading trends.","type":"paragraph"},{"level":2,"text":"Sources and updates","type":"heading"},{"links":[{"end":67,"href":"https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2026/09/pisa-2025-results-volume-i_5265bfb1/73451bc5-en.pdf","start":42,"text":"OECD's PISA 2025 Volume I"},{"end":144,"href":"https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/PracticeGuide/29/Published","start":130,"text":"2022 IES guide"}],"text":"Sources were checked on 8 September 2026: OECD's PISA 2025 Volume I, especially its preface, Annexes A1-A3 and Chapter 4; and the 2022 IES guide. The hypotheses and local decision process are editorial interpretations. We will correct substantive factual errors and update the article date when those corrections change the guidance.","type":"paragraph"},{"text":"If a future classroom collaboration serves your learning goals, explore Class2Class Discover and check each project's age range, language, timing and participation details. Project availability is separate from the reading-support decisions above.","type":"paragraph"},{"href":"https://platform.class2class.org/en/discover","intent":"primary","label":"Explore classroom projects","type":"cta"}],"breadcrumbs":[{"name":"Home","path":"/"},{"name":"Impact","path":"/impact/"},{"name":"PISA 2025 reading results","path":"/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/"}],"cards":[],"contentFamilyId":"impact","contentStandardVersion":2,"credits":[{"authorityLinks":[{"kind":"linkedin","label":"LinkedIn","url":"https://dk.linkedin.com/in/anton-skriver-olesen"},{"kind":"organization","label":"Class2Class child safeguarding policy","url":"https://class2class.org/child-safeguarding/"}],"contributionStatement":"Wrote and maintains this content.","creditedAt":"2026-09-12T18:10:41.552Z","displayName":"Anton Skriver","image":{"alt":"Anton Skriver, Head of Partnerships and Growth at Class2Class","height":1254,"url":"/assets/people/anton-skriver-2026.png","width":1254},"profilePath":"/people/anton-skriver/","role":"author","roleTitle":"Head of Partnerships and Growth","shortBio":"Anton Skriver is Head of Partnerships and Growth at Class2Class. He works with schools, institutions and mission-aligned organizations to expand access to meaningful global classroom collaboration. As Class2Class's Designated Safeguarding Lead, he also helps ensure that partnerships and growth remain trusted and safe for educators and students."},{"authorityLinks":[{"kind":"linkedin","label":"LinkedIn","url":"https://dk.linkedin.com/in/leonardabrahamian"},{"kind":"organization","label":"Class2Class safeguarding governance","url":"https://class2class.org/safeguarding-governance/"}],"contributionStatement":"Reviewed this content for accuracy, evidence and usefulness.","creditedAt":"2026-09-12T20:13:24.150Z","displayName":"Leonard Abrahamian","image":{"alt":"Leonard Abrahamian, Technical Lead at Class2Class","height":232,"url":"/assets/people/leonard-abrahamian.jpg","width":232},"profilePath":"/people/leonard-abrahamian/","role":"reviewer","roleTitle":"Technical Lead","shortBio":"Leonard Abrahamian is Technical Lead at Class2Class. He leads the development of the platform, data and responsible AI systems, translating the needs of educators and partners into dependable tools for global classroom collaboration. He also helps implement platform safeguards and maintain the integrity of Class2Class's AI systems."}],"dek":"Read the OECD trends carefully, keep possible explanations separate from findings, and use local evidence to choose reading support with your teaching team.","directAnswer":"PISA 2025 reports a lower OECD average in reading, with different trends across countries. It does not establish a single cause or diagnose your school. Use the findings to frame questions, then choose support from local assessment and separate intervention evidence.","facts":[],"faqs":[{"answer":"No. An average does not describe every education system. Check the country, time period, comparison group and uncertainty before interpreting a reported change.","question":"Does the OECD average mean reading fell in every country?"},{"answer":"No. The digital and AI relationships discussed here concern science scores and cannot establish causation. A claim about a particular reading intervention needs separate evidence.","question":"Does PISA show that phones or AI caused reading scores to fall?"},{"answer":"Yes. Use evidence about local reading needs and suitable interventions, then review delivery and progress. That does not establish why a national trend changed.","question":"Can a school choose support before national causes are settled?"}],"locale":"en","path":"/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","primaryHubPath":"/impact/","publishedAt":"2026-09-14T09:15:47.375Z","quotes":[],"relatedPaths":["/resources/collaboration-guide-get-to-know-each-other/","/impact/assessing-student-work-international-collaborations/"],"relations":["topic:education-future-skills","age-school-level:secondary","learning-outcome:critical-thinking","audience:teachers","format:article"],"reviewedAt":"2026-09-12T20:13:24.150Z","reviewer":"Leonard Abrahamian","templateKey":"article-v2","title":"PISA 2025 reading results: what changed, and what can schools do?","type":"article","updatedAt":"2026-09-12T20:13:24.150Z"},"contractVersion":"2.0","payloadChecksum":"9a591800ff97d299b2c948793295ea0cf456aa3301175689d4296e9397f55e69","publishedAt":"2026-09-14T09:15:47.375Z","representations":[{"kind":"html","url":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","canonicalUrl":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","contentType":"text/html; charset=utf-8","revisionId":"a20e0c9d-c9fa-450d-a311-ebeaf7e7eb54","payloadChecksum":"9a591800ff97d299b2c948793295ea0cf456aa3301175689d4296e9397f55e69"},{"kind":"json","url":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/content.json","canonicalUrl":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","contentType":"application/json; charset=utf-8","revisionId":"a20e0c9d-c9fa-450d-a311-ebeaf7e7eb54","payloadChecksum":"9a591800ff97d299b2c948793295ea0cf456aa3301175689d4296e9397f55e69"},{"kind":"markdown","url":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/content.md","canonicalUrl":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","contentType":"text/markdown; charset=utf-8","revisionId":"a20e0c9d-c9fa-450d-a311-ebeaf7e7eb54","payloadChecksum":"9a591800ff97d299b2c948793295ea0cf456aa3301175689d4296e9397f55e69"},{"kind":"jsonld","url":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/content.jsonld","canonicalUrl":"https://class2class.org/impact/pisa-2025-reading-results-explained/","contentType":"application/ld+json; charset=utf-8","revisionId":"a20e0c9d-c9fa-450d-a311-ebeaf7e7eb54","payloadChecksum":"9a591800ff97d299b2c948793295ea0cf456aa3301175689d4296e9397f55e69"}],"revisionId":"a20e0c9d-c9fa-450d-a311-ebeaf7e7eb54"}