Israel's PISA Test Results Under Scrutiny Amidst Excuses

As Israel's disappointing results in the PISA 2025 international student assessment are set to be released on September 8, 2026, a debate has already begun regarding the reasons for the poor performance. While the official results are not yet public, common excuses such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing war are expected to be cited, alongside long-standing arguments about class size and economic conditions. This analysis challenges two of these prevalent justifications.

The first argument refuted is the claim that a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita does not correlate with educational achievement, suggesting that Israel's relatively high GDP of approximately $60,000 per person is incongruous with its "pathetic" academic results. However, the article points out that many high-achieving PISA countries, such as Singapore, have significantly higher GDPs per capita, with Singapore boasting around $156,000. Conversely, some countries with lower GDPs per capita also show strong PISA results, indicating no direct correlation. The article also highlights that Israel has a low student-to-teacher ratio, around 1:10, which is better than the OECD average, suggesting that the issue is not a lack of teachers but potentially other systemic problems.

The second argument examined is the notion that class size and economic status are the primary drivers of low educational outcomes. The analysis reveals that many of the top-performing countries in PISA 2025, including Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Singapore, actually have larger class sizes than the OECD average. For instance, class sizes in some of these regions can reach 38-46 students, while the OECD average is around 20-21. Estonia is noted as an exception with smaller class sizes and high achievement. The article concludes that while Israel's education system faces numerous challenges, the proposed solutions of reducing class size and increasing budgets may not be the panacea they are often presented as, suggesting that the root causes of the underperformance might be different from commonly believed.