data analysis probability and measurement as opposed to formal operations comprised the majority of pisa mathematics items national center for education statistics nd some schooling systems perform at a high level on both assessments but many fare better on one or another assessment many nordic and englishspeaking education systems with curricula and pedagogy oriented towards the application of knowledge in realworld settings perform at higher levels on pisa than timss while education systems strongly oriented towards theoreticallyled curriculum and instruction such as those of russia and former soviet states demonstrate higher levels of performance in timss wu