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Canada\u2019s recent results<\/a> in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA<\/a>) have been celebrated widely. In August 2017, the BBC marked Canada as an \u201ceducation superpower<\/a>\u201d because we were one of the top-ranking countries.<\/p>\n In fact, in-depth analysis indicates that our high school students\u2019 performance has remained stagnant over the past decade. Even more troubling, almost 10 per cent of Canadian 15-year-olds do not have the science proficiency level required to participate fully in society.<\/p>\n And last week\u2019s announcement of the 2018 Times Higher Education World University Rankings<\/a> places Canadian universities in a similar situation \u2014 just clinging to their positions<\/a>.<\/p>\n As an assistant professor in the Werklund School of Education at the University of Calgary, I have been working with PISA data<\/a> for many years. My research with PISA stems from an interest in educational assessment which began when I was a high school science teacher. One of my research streams focuses on investigating the different types of assessments<\/a> used across Canada.<\/p>\n PISA is an international assessment of the skills and knowledge of 15-year-old students, a collaborative effort among member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD<\/a>). In the last round of the assessment, 72 countries participated.<\/p>\n After the 2015 results were released, Canada was celebrated because only a handful of countries outperformed us in science, math and reading. When these results were compared to our past performance, it suggested Canadian students\u2019 achievement improved over the years; particularly in the past three years.<\/p>\nNo improvements<\/strong><\/h4>\n