French Lower Secondary School—Collège

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 8-22
Author(s):  
Miroslava Váňová
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Grade Retention ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
School Level ◽  
School Type ◽  
Lower Secondary School ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
And Performance

The paper deals with the comprehensive lower secondary school—Collège de France. It describes its origins, objectives, current configuration, development and present problems. In this context the author highlights the importance of this school level in terms of school system characteristics as well as in terms of different ways of addressing currently important problems such as grade retention, social and performance homogeneity or heterogeneity of class groups as well as social and performance diversity of educational institutions of this level. With regard to the fact that French system of education is not commonly known to the wider teaching public, the author initially presents the current state of this type of school as a result of a series of reforms and innovations which this school went through since its origin in the 70s of the 20th century, and which were primarily aimed at deepening its internal differentiation, while retaining its original goals of a school for all eleven to fifteen-year-old pupils. On this basis, the author shows the persisting problems coming from the great social and intellectual heterogeneity of pupils of this school type. These problems are documented in the form of opinions of various participants in the educational process, especially teachers and educators—researchers as well as in the form of results of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). In conclusion, the study presents the expected development in solving all the mentioned problems.

Three Paradoxical Effects on Academic Self-Concept Across Countries, Schools, and Students

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Herbert W. Marsh ◽  
Philip D. Parker ◽  
Reinhard Pekrun
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Frame Of Reference ◽  
School Level ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Starting School

Abstract. We simultaneously resolve three paradoxes in academic self-concept research with a single unifying meta-theoretical model based on frame-of-reference effects across 68 countries, 18,292 schools, and 485,490 15-year-old students. Paradoxically, but consistent with predictions, effects on math self-concepts were negative for: • being from countries where country-average achievement was high; explaining the paradoxical cross-cultural self-concept effect; • attending schools where school-average achievement was high; demonstrating big-fish-little-pond-effects (BFLPE) that generalized over 68 countries, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)/non-OECD countries, high/low achieving schools, and high/low achieving students; • year-in-school relative to age; unifying different research literatures for associated negative effects for starting school at a younger age and acceleration/skipping grades, and positive effects for starting school at an older age (“academic red shirting”) and, paradoxically, even for repeating a grade. Contextual effects matter, resulting in significant and meaningful effects on self-beliefs, not only at the student (year in school) and local school level (BFLPE), but remarkably even at the macro-contextual country-level. Finally, we juxtapose cross-cultural generalizability based on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data used here with generalizability based on meta-analyses, arguing that although the two approaches are similar in many ways, the generalizability shown here is stronger in terms of support for the universality of the frame-of-reference effects.

scholarly journals Communities of practice and PISA for Schools: Comparative learning or a mode of educational governance?

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
School Level ◽  
Topological Spaces ◽  
Global Learning ◽  
Policy Cycle ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
New Variant

This paper examines the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) PISA for Schools, a new variant of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) that compares school-level performance on reading, math and science with international schooling systems (e.g., Shanghai-China, Finland). Specifically, I focus here on a professional learning community – the Global Learning Network (GLN) – of U.S. schools and districts that have voluntarily participated in PISA for Schools, and how this, arguably, helps to normatively determine ‘what works’ in education. Drawing suggestively across diverse thinking around contemporary modes of governance, and emerging topological spaces and relations associated with globalization, and informed by interviews with 33 policy actors across the PISA for Schools policy cycle, my analyses suggest that GLN allows the OECD to discursively and normatively constrain how ‘world-class’ schools and systems, and their policies and practices, are defined. However, and in light of the productive capacities of power relations, I also argue that GLN provides opportunities for local educators and leaders to undertake meaningful collaboration and sharing, and to find policy spaces outside of those defined by more performative discursive framings of school accountability. To this end, I explore how GLN may help to foster alternative policy spaces from which educators can ‘talk back’ to national and state authorities, and potentially promote more ‘authentic’ understandings of, and possibilities for, schooling accountability.

The digital divide at school and at home: A comparison between schools by socioeconomic level across 47 countries

2021 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-140
Author(s):  
Josef Kuo-Hsun Ma
Keyword(s):  
Digital Divide ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
School Level ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Educational Expenditures ◽  
E Learning ◽  
At Home

Despite efforts to improve digital access in schools, a persistent digital divide is identified worldwide. Drawing on data from the 2018 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) for 15-year-olds, I examine how students’ digital use for educational purposes (at school and at home) and their perceived digital competence differ between schools by socioeconomic status (SES) and vary across 47 countries. Using multilevel modeling, I find that the second-level digital divide between schools exists even among more developed societies. Students attending high-SES schools are more likely to use computers for schoolwork within and outside of schools, and have more digital competence than those attending low-SES schools. These differences remain substantial and statistically significant even when controlling for school-level resources. Moreover, the between-school digital divide in students’ digital competence is negatively associated with economic development and educational expenditures, and positively associated with income inequality. In conclusion, I discuss implications of the findings and highlight the importance of examining how schools with varying socioeconomic profiles provide different e-learning experiences for individual students, explained by the different institutional settings and cultural features of schools.

Principals and Student Achievement

2018 ◽  
pp. 84-117 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Marshall Perry ◽  
Karen M. Sealy ◽  
Héctor X. Ramírez-Pérez ◽  
Thomas C. DeNicola ◽  
Yair Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Context Specific

Connections between principal leadership activities, school context, and student achievement are examined within this paper. Data for this quantitative study are from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The eight countries of examination participated in both the TALIS and PISA and the researchers merged datasets, yielding a study sample of 1,301 schools. This paper supports a context-specific view of instructional leadership. When looking across countries, the researchers found different practices were more strongly associated with the academic achievement of students, and suggest that school leaders have a meaningful overall relationship with academic achievement, both directly and indirectly. This study therefore supports prior research about the direct and indirect effects of instructional leadership. Further study, which accounts for differences in family academic resources and school-level opportunities to learn, will better illuminate the connection between instructional leadership practices and academic achievement.

The Assessment of Students' Competencies and Constructionism With Examples in Biological and Natural Sciences

2018 ◽  
pp. 223-249
Author(s):  
Mariana. Iancu
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Evaluation Activity ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Modern Methods ◽  
Learn By Doing ◽  
New System

The author approaches the necessity of the reform of the evaluation activity in the educational process at biology and natural sciences classes in various ways (i.e., the assessment of students' competencies, the assessment of construction of knowledge by students' efforts, assessment of students' productions, of projects, assessment of their experimental, practical and investigative activities, the assessment with the aid of informational and communicational technologies, the complementary use of modernized traditional methods and modern methods, the use of the new system “nothing is lost, everything is transformed,” for which this researcher contributes with examples and recommendations); all these are in accordance with Papert's constructionist ideas (e.g., to learn by doing). Also, the researcher treats and contributes with examples to the process of assessment of students' competencies and of their constructionism in natural sciences, according to Program for International Student Assessment (P.I.S.A.).

Who is More Likely to Participate in Private Tutoring and Does it Work?: Evidence from PISA (2015)

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 69-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangyi Liao ◽  
Xiaoting Huang
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Hierarchical Linear Model ◽  
Educational Expectations ◽  
Private Tutoring ◽  
School Level ◽  
After School ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
International Student Assessment

Purpose In recent years, private tutoring has become increasingly prevalent in China and has become both a dominant way for students to learn after school and a major component of family educational expenditure. This paper aims to analyze the factors that affect Chinese students’ participation in private tutoring and the effectiveness of private tutoring. Design/Approach/Methods We use data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 of Mainland China area and focus specifically on science-related private tutoring. Multilevel logistic model and hierarchical linear model based on coarsened exact matching (CEM) are used to conduct the investigations. Findings Empirical results show that individual level factors including student's interest in science, educational expectations, and school-level factors such as school autonomy, science-related learning resources and school size pose a significant influence on the likelihood of participation in private tutoring. Moreover, science-related private tutoring has not significantly improved the overall scientific literacy scores of students. In addition, private tutoring has widened the performance gap among students from different socioeconomic backgrounds, with students from socioeconomically advantaged family experiencing more significant gains from tutoring. Originality/Value These findings suggest that providing free high-quality tutoring to students from disadvantaged families might be an effective way of promoting educational equity.

Efficacy of Grade Retention in Macao

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-80
Author(s):  
Yisu Zhou ◽  
Yi-Lee Wong
Keyword(s):  
Grade Retention ◽  
International Student ◽  
Learning Strategy ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Learning Trajectory ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Second Chance

Grade retention is widely used in Macao at the elementary and secondary levels. While many teachers and students believe retention gives low-performing students the opportunity to catch up, there is little empirical evidence to support such a claim. Using Programme in International Student Assessment 2009 (pisa, 2009) data, we examine the effect of grade retention on students’ learning time, learning strategy, metacognition, and academic achievement. We also analyze the influence of school policies to determine the net effect of retention. Our findings suggest that, contrary to conventional thinking, grade retention has a highly negative effect on the above factors. Students who repeated a grade did not benefit from this second chance, but rather were substantially held back in their learning trajectory. We suggest that schools in Macao shift their focus to designing programs that will help students with greater needs, rather than focusing exclusively on identifying such students.

scholarly journals Educational Achievement Gaps between Immigrant and Native Students in Two “New” Immigration Countries

2012 ◽  
Vol 643 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Azzolini ◽  
Philipp Schnell ◽  
John R. B. Palmer
Keyword(s):  
International Student ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Educational Achievement ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Achievement Gaps ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Socioeconomic Background ◽  
School Type ◽  
Native Students ◽  
International Student Assessment

The authors use 2009 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data to determine how immigrant children in Italy and Spain compare with native students in reading and mathematics skills. Drawing on the vast empirical literature in countries with traditionally high rates of immigration, the authors test the extent to which the most well-established patterns and hypotheses of immigrant/native educational achievement gaps also apply to these comparatively “new” immigration countries. The authors find that both first- and second-generation immigrant students underperform natives in both countries. Although socioeconomic background and language skills contribute to the explanation of achievement gaps, significant differences remain within the countries even after controlling for those variables. While modeling socioeconomic background reduces the observed gaps to a very similar extent in both countries, language spoken at home is more strongly associated with achievement gaps in Italy. School-type differentiation, such as tracking in Italy and school ownership in Spain, do not reduce immigrant/native gaps, although in Italy tracking is strongly associated with immigrant students’ test scores.

Principals and Student Achievement

2021 ◽  
pp. 1378-1404
Author(s):  
S. Marshall Perry ◽  
Karen M. Sealy ◽  
Héctor X. Ramírez-Pérez ◽  
Thomas C. DeNicola ◽  
Yair Cohen
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Student Achievement ◽  
Instructional Leadership ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
International Student ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
School Context ◽  
School Level ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Context Specific

Connections between principal leadership activities, school context, and student achievement are examined within this paper. Data for this quantitative study are from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) and the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The eight countries of examination participated in both the TALIS and PISA and the researchers merged datasets, yielding a study sample of 1,301 schools. This paper supports a context-specific view of instructional leadership. When looking across countries, the researchers found different practices were more strongly associated with the academic achievement of students, and suggest that school leaders have a meaningful overall relationship with academic achievement, both directly and indirectly. This study therefore supports prior research about the direct and indirect effects of instructional leadership. Further study, which accounts for differences in family academic resources and school-level opportunities to learn, will better illuminate the connection between instructional leadership practices and academic achievement.

Strategies to raise interest for science in tomorrow´s students

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Aguirre Murúa
Keyword(s):  
Secondary School ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Computer Games ◽  
International Student ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Student Assessment ◽  
Experimental Science ◽  
International Student Assessment ◽  
Academic Results

<p>The interest of secondary level students for science and technology has been decreasing in the recent years. According to PISA 2018 (Programme for International Student Assessment) Spain is scored in the level 2 (483 points) in science, slightly below of other countries of the EU like France (493), Ireland (496), Germany (503) or United Kingdom (505) and far from the top of the list: China (590), Singapore (551) or Estonia (530).<br>There is a wide gap between top-performing and low-achieving students in our secondary school. Many reasons could be responsible of this fact, such as socio-economic status, gender or immigrant background. Science teachers cannot ignore this tendency; we need to act in order to awake the interest for science and technology of our students. <br>The aim of this paper is to present ideas and strategies followed in the last years by science teachers of Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer secondary school to increase the motivation of students for experimental science and the improvement of their academic results. The strategies are divided in three groups according to their temporal length: long, medium and short.<br>Long term strategies include working with small groups of students with similar capacities and cooperative learning. Medium term strategies entail the annual participation in the Fair of Science and in a multimedia Science competition based on the Trivial Pursuit. Short term activities involve Lab practices, Computer games and guided tours to permanent and temporary exhibitions.  <br>Although we do not have statistical analyses of the academic results over a long period of time following the teaching practices described above, we can appreciate a qualitative improvement if we replace some theorical framework of science for experiences that consider student´s interest and capabilities, helping them with individualized learning and assessment in ways that foster their engagement and talents. In this path, we have used teaching-learning´s index to quantify the academic evolution of students over the last 3 years in Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer secondary school and the results show really good evolution in “percentage of students with all the subjects passed” and the “successful completion of the grade level previous to the last, in the high school”.</p>

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