Just shy of 30 years ago, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) developed a global assessment for 15-year-olds to answer a simple but critical question: how well are they prepared for life beyond school?
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), first administered in 1997, has been testing students on how effectively they can apply their reading, maths and science knowledge to real-world challenges, offering a global snapshot that continues to shape education policy and classroom practice.
Now in its 10th cycle, PISA is the most comprehensive international comparative education programme and a major influence on both international and domestic education policymaking.
Recently, the OECD announced that the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has been appointed to lead the development and implementation of PISA’s 2029 cycle.
While the main focal point for the upcoming cycle will be reading, students’ AI skills will also be assessed. The 2029 Innovative Domain, Media and AI Literacy – a first-of-its-kind international assessment – will explore students’ capacity to access, analyse and critically engage with digital information, misinformation and disinformation.
In a statement published earlier this month, ACER said it will work with the OECD and subject matter experts to develop an assessment that is engaging and reflects the skills students need to navigate AI in their learning.
Teaching kids to think, not skim
When asked how can schools sharpen the way reading is assessed so that it actually captures deep comprehension rather than just surface-level skills, ACER CEO Lisa Rodgers said the focus needs to shift from recall to real understanding.
“PISA’s approach to reading literacy aligns closely with the goal of capturing deep comprehension rather than surface-level skills,” Rodgers told The Educator. “Reading assessment in PISA assessment focuses on whether students can locate information, make meaning, and critically evaluate and reflect on what they read.”
Importantly, said Rodgers, these skills need to operate across multiple source texts, including digital environments, where students must judge source credibility and synthesise information.
“This focus allows teaching and learning to target deep reading comprehension.”
AI skills need real-world thinking
Rodgers said quality assessment of AI literacy focuses on whether students can engage proactively, critically and responsibly in digital environments, rather than on their ability to use specific tools.
“For PISA 2029 and for school leaders more broadly, this reinforces the importance of embedding AI competencies within broader digital literacy and assessing them accordingly,” she said.
“The OECD’s draft Media and Artificial Intelligence Literacy assessment framework released earlier this year is a useful reference point for educators, outlining clear competencies and assessment considerations for teaching media and AI literacy in schools.”
Rodgers said ACER is harnessing the digital platform to lower access barriers and drive higher participation in the assessment, adding that this begins with “applying universal design principles and using built-in tools that are available to all students.”
“This approach can provide more direct access to the assessment for many students,” she said.
“It is still too early to discuss specific accessibility tools and solutions for students with more complex needs, as this work will be undertaken in close collaboration with PISA 2029 participants and the OECD to better understand students’ accessibility requirements across diverse national and cultural contexts.”
Rodgers said ACER has already demonstrated that barriers can be reduced through smart design, notably in the Preschool Outcomes Measure (POM) currently under trial.
“Consultation on design will commence later this year and will have their first implementation in field trial in 2028 and main survey in 2029.”