On Feb. 26, around 60 randomly selected students took the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for half of the school day.

The PISA exam, which is held every three years by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), aims to improve education worldwide. Fifteen-year-old students representing over 70 countries take the international survey, which consists of three sections: reading, mathematics and science.

“It was a really unique test. The math, reading, and science questions were all mixed together, not in separate sections, and the test consisted of multiple choice, yes/no, as well as short-answer questions,” freshman Susanna Bradbury said. “Though I was not looking forward to spending half of my school day taking a test, the test itself was not extremely difficult, and it was a unique experience that gave me insight into the education system ranking process.”

Students at Jefferson believed that the survey was effective in determining the quality of education.

“I do think it’s a good indicator of the quality of learning in schools because the questions made you think about the applications of concepts instead of memorization of facts and formulas,” junior Teja Sathi said.