In almost every country and economy that participated in PISA 2012, low performers showed
less perseverance than better-performing students. For instance, about 32% of low performers
said they give up on solving problems easily compared to only 13% of better-performing
students who so reported. Low performers perceive their efforts in after-school learning activities to be unproductive.
Despite similar self-reported efforts invested in studying for mathematics quizzes, 81% of top
performers in mathematics agreed that they were prepared for mathematics exams compared
to only 56% of low performers. Low performers who did mathematics as an extracurricular activity were much more interested
in mathematics than those who did not.
