Results from the latest Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) reveal a worrying trend: families in many high‑income nations are less involved in their teenagers’ education, and test scores are falling.
National and International Test Scores Drop
More than 760,000 fifteen‑year‑olds from dozens of countries took the PISA exam last year. Average scores in math, reading and science are now at the lowest levels ever recorded among developed economies. The United States saw continued declines in both reading and math, matching the broader downward trend.
Parental Engagement Slipping
Compared with 2022, almost every participating country reported a drop in families’ support for their kids’ education, especially for boys. The OECD’s education director, Andreas Schleicher, noted that many parents now see themselves more as “clients” of schools rather than active participants in their children’s learning.
Students who said a family member asked them at least weekly about school performed about 35 points higher on the science portion of PISA – an advantage equivalent to roughly a year and a half of schooling – even after adjusting for socioeconomic differences.
Digital Distraction Plays a Role
Over a quarter of students in affluent nations reported that classmates were distracted by digital devices in most or every science class. Nations with stricter policies limiting cellphone use in schools saw lower distraction rates.
While moderate use of technology (two to three hours per day) correlated with higher scores, excessive use was linked to lower performance. Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and mainland China reported less than 10% of students experiencing digital distraction, and they also ranked among the top performers in math, reading and science.
U.S. Performance in Context
In the United States, about 65% of students met the baseline for math and 74% for reading, far below the near‑100% achievement rates reported in Chinese provinces. The U.S. still ranked in the top 15 worldwide for science, reading and a new computational problem‑solving category, but those rankings benefited from declines elsewhere.
Researchers cautioned that the U.S. sample did not meet the OECD’s standards for a sufficiently large and representative group of schools and students.
Artificial Intelligence and Learning
Higher use of AI tools, such as chatbots, was associated with lower test scores. Students who never used AI chatbots performed better than those who used them weekly. Countries like China, Japan, Singapore and Estonia have managed to integrate AI into classrooms without overreliance.
Schleicher highlighted that Asian teachers often design AI systems for their classrooms, whereas in the United States teachers tend to implement lessons created elsewhere.
Implications for the Future
Experts warn that declining parental involvement and rising digital distraction could have long‑term consequences for the nation’s competitiveness in science and technology. “To win a technological race, you need people with strong reading and scientific skills,” said Tracey Burns of the National Center for Education and the Economy.
Policymakers, educators and families are urged to consider strategies that boost parental engagement and balance technology use to support student achievement.
Original reporting: Dallas TX News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.
