Assessment of Problem-Solving Competency of Students

Problem-solving as an important transversal competency for the training students in the 21st century is attended in many educational systems, including Iran. However, no formal curriculum has yet been proposed for its development inside of our country. The present study has been designed to know current performance of students. With this regards, 4253 eleventh grade students in Tehran, which randomly selected, asked 32 items that were nested in 15 performance tasks. The results showed that average score of sample is a bit, but significantly, lower than the mid-point of scale. Also, 19 percent of students had not achieved to even first performance level. Furthermore, the performance distribution of boys is broader than girls’, especially in lower area. Besides, students who educate in mathematics-physic, science, humanistic sciences, career-technical education, and vocational training showed the best performance, respectively. Comparison between school types revealed that the highest performance was in gifted students schools and in the other side, the lowest performance was in public schools. In general, performance of students in Tehran City was evaluated as weak, even with regards to its average that was close to mid-point of scale.