Alberta student PISA scores plummet despite high rankings

When taking a test, it’s valuable to measure yourself against your peers. But it’s probably more valuable to measure yourself against your own track record. If you’re outperforming your peers, that’s good news. But if your own results are worsening over time, it’s not much of a success story.

This is exactly what’s happening in Alberta.

On Sept. 8, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)—which tests 15-year-old students from 91 countries in math, science and reading—released its latest results. Alberta students continue to rank well above the international (OECD) average in all three subject areas. And among Canadian provinces, Alberta students rank highest in reading and science and second in math (only Quebec ranks higher). Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides released a statement claiming that the “outstanding results show Alberta students continue to excel on the world stage.” But here’s the problem—despite these relatively high rankings, Alberta’s PISA scores are actually falling.

For example, from 2003 to 2025, PISA math scores in Alberta plummeted by 60 points, and from 2009 to 2025, reading scores dropped by 34 points. For context, PISA equates 20 points to approximately one grade level. In other words, the math skills of Alberta students are about three grade levels lower than they were in 2003 while their reading skills are more than one-and-a-half grade levels below where they were in 2009. The rate of decline has been most pronounced over the last decade. From 2018 to 2025, PISA math scores dropped by 25 points and reading skills dropped by 33 points.

To be fair, other Canadian provinces and most other OECD countries have also seen decreases in PISA scores over time. Academic decline is a global phenomenon. This is why the Smith government can celebrate Alberta’s “outstanding” PISA results—Alberta’s scores have worsened, but haven’t worsened as significantly as scores in other jurisdictions.

Clearly, Alberta parents should not accept declining student performance, no matter how Alberta scores compare to other places. The test of success should be whether Alberta students are genuinely improving their academic skills—not staying at the top because other jurisdictions are sinking faster. There’s an old saying that a rising tide lifts all boats. By the same token, a receding tide leaves all boats stranded.

Of course, declining test scores raise the obvious question—why?

While the exact causes are debatable, when considering the general academic decline in industrialized countries, it’s impossible to ignore the potential role of technology used by young people and addictive screens, and the influence of trendy curriculum fads such as “discovery math” and balanced literacy rather than phonics and explicit instruction, and the shift away from knowledge-rich curricula. There’s no reason to assume things won’t get worse unless the provincial government enacts structural reforms in the education system. Alberta has made some curriculum improvements since those fads took hold, but there’s still some clear low-hanging fruit.

The Smith government should strengthen standardized testing to identify which students and schools need additional support, rewrite curriculum guides to ensure they emphasize knowledge and core skills, and expand school choice to increase the ability of parents to choose the schools that work best for their children. In reality, despite any claims of “outstanding results,” Alberta’s education system requires immediate attention, for the sake of students and their futures.