When journalists report that the United States is lagging behind educational systems around the world, they are usually referring to results on a common exam given to 15-year-old students: The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). What is striking about this exam is that it is a test of applied knowledge. Memorizing facts and figures alone won’t deliver a high score. Rather, the test assesses problem solving and critical thinking; to do well, students need to think beyond the boundaries of each subject and consider how they relate to each other in a real-world, problem-solving context.
The BASIS Curriculum blends rigorous worldwide standards with the ingenuity and creativity so often associated with American education. As a result, BASIS Curriculum students are positioned at the very top in the world as measured by their performance on the OECD Test for Schools (based on PISA).