PISA results and mathematical problem solving in primary education curriculums

Abstract

The results of successive PISA assessments show substantial differences between countries. In this context, we wonder if these differences are related to levels of specificity in solving problems of curricula of these countries. Particularly, in this paper we present a comparative study of curricula for primary education from six countries, which have received high, middle and lower scores in PISA 2012. Through a content analysis, we describe how problem solving competency is set to these curricula. The results reveal different levels of explicitness in each document and dichotomies what is explicit as a concept of problem solving and what requires school. We conclude that countries with curricula with higher levels of explicitness not necessarily correspond with those who obtained the highest score in the PISA study.