Scientific literacy, PISA, and socioscientific discourse: Assessment for progressive aims of science education

In this article, we explore the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) with a lens informed by the socioscientific issues (SSI) movement. We consider the PISA definition of scientific literacy and how it is situated with respect to broader discussions of the aims of science education. We also present an overview of the SSI framework that has emerged in the science education community as a guide for research and practice. We then use this framework to support analysis of the PISA approach to assessment. The PISA and SSI approaches are seemingly well aligned when considering general aims. Both approaches emphasize preparing students for life and citizenship, complex reasoning and reflective practices, and robust understandings of the nature of science particularly as it is practiced in society. However, as the focus of comparison moves from the conceptual to more specific, the connections between PISA and the SSI movement become more tenuous. For instance, many of the PISA test items, at least those that have been released publicly, seem quite removed from the intent of the SSI movement. The article concludes with a discussion of recent trends in research associated with SSI, which may provide alternative avenues for assessing progressive aims of The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) represents a new approach, as compared to national and international assessment initiatives, for the assessment of student progress in science education.OneoftheuniqueandnotablefeaturesofPISAisthearticulationofscientificliteracythatservesas aconceptualunderpinningfortheproject.Thisvisionforscientificliteracy,whichhighlightslearners'useof science in real-life contexts, invites comparisons to progressive movements in science education. Within the last decade, science educators with progressive goals have increasingly focused on socioscientific issues (SSI) as learning contexts. In this article, we explore ways in which PISA and the socioscientific issues movement overlap and diverge. We begin with an overview of scientific literacy and a discussion of the diverse ideas that the construct has come to represent and then describe how PISA frames scientific literacy. Next,weintroduce thesocioscientificissuesmovementand offersocioscientific Discourseand development of student identities that support these Discourses as normative aims for science education. We then explore the push for standards, assessment, and accountability, which has become a central feature of modern education and the backdrop against which PISA has emerged. We introduce the PISA approach to assessment, and the framework used for developing its assessment instrument. Next, we present specific competenciesprioritized byPISA and sample itemsthat addressthese competencies as a means ofexploring ways in which PISA supports the socioscientific issues movement and ways in which the two initiatives diverge. We conclude the article by reviewing other strategies for assessment to support progressive aims of