International Studies of Educational Achievement

Author(s):  
Tjeerd Plomp ◽  
Sarah Howie ◽  
Barry McGaw
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry E Suter

The international comparative studies in 1959 were conducted by International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) researchers who recognized that differences in student achievement measures in mathematics across countries could be caused by differences in curricula. The measurements of opportunity to learn (OTL) grew from a small effort in 1959 to a much larger efforts by 1995 to explain whether countries with high achievement were more likely to teach advanced mathematics. In general, the relationship of coverage of a mathematics topic was weakly related to the level of mathematics performance, but did have some effect on growth. This paper finds that differences in measurement methods of OTL across the studies greatly affected the outcome of the relationship. Recent Program for International Student Achievement (PISA) analyses indicate that the relationship between OTL and student achievement might be described as a curvilinear relationship. Countries with lower achievement are more likely to be affected by curriculum coverage than are high-performing countries.


Author(s):  
А.А. Григорьев ◽  
К.В. Сугоняев

В ряде работ было продемонстрировано, что в настоящее время, согласно результатам международных исследований, страны мира сближаются друг с другом по образовательным достижениям, рассматриваемым некоторыми авторами как индикатор когнитивной способности населения. Данное явление может быть объяснено притоком иммигрантов, более интенсивным в благополучных странах, характеризующихся высокими образовательными достижениями. Для проверки этого предположения был проведен дифференцированный анализ данных коренного населения стран и иммигрантов; показателем сближения стран служила отрицательная корреляция между исходным уровнем и динамикой образовательных достижений. Его результаты показали, что феномен не может быть, по крайней мере целиком, объяснен притоком иммигрантов: страны сближались не только по достижениям всех участников, но и по достижениям коренного населения, причем значения показателя сближения мало отличались. Анализ данных коренного населения выявил, что конвергенция стран происходила в большей мере за счет снижения достижений коренного населения в странах с изначально высоким их уровнем. В то время как снижение в таких странах продолжается, число стран с изначально низкими достижениями и повысившими их сокращается. Это привело к тому, что процесс сближения стран в самые последние годы замедлился. Направление динамики образовательных достижений стран, характеризующихся ее устойчивостью, в целом соответствует направлению изменения уровня интеллекта населения этих стран по данным исследований эффекта Флинна на материале психометрических измерений. Устойчивой отрицательной динамикой образовательных достижений характеризуются некоторые европейские или населенные преимущественно выходцами из Европы страны. Россия характеризуется устойчивой положительной динамикой этих достижений. Some studies have shown that the countries’ results obtained in international studies of educational achievement viewed by some authors as an indicator of the cognitive ability of the population are now drawing closer. This convergence can be explained by the influx of immigrants, more intense in prosperous countries with high educational achievements. To verify this explanation, a differentiated analysis of the data of the indigenous population of countries and immigrants was carried out; a negative correlation between the initial level and the dynamics of educational achievements was used as an indicator of rapprochement of countries. Its results showed that the convergence of countries cannot be explained, at least entirely, by the influx of immigrants: the countries converged not only on the achievements of all participants, but also on the achievements of the indigenous population, and the values of the convergence indicator did not differ much. An analysis of the data of the indigenous population revealed that the convergence of countries was largely due to a decrease in the achievements of the indigenous population in countries with initially high level. While the decline in such countries continues, the number of countries with initially low achievements and those that have increased them is decreasing, which leads to a decrease in the rate of convergence of countries. The direction of the dynamics of the educational achievements of countries characterized by the stability of this dynamics, in general, corresponds to the direction of the change in the level of intelligence of the populations of these countries according to studies of the Flynn effect on the material of psychometric measurements. The stable negative dynamics of educational achievements characterize by some European or European-populated countries. Russia is characterized by stable positive dynamics of these achievements.


2012 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 243-265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Slobodanka Gasic-Pavisic ◽  
Dejan Stankovic

This paper presents the main results of the international study of students? mathematics and science achievement TIMSS 2011. The focus is on presentation and discussion of the results achieved by Serbian students. In Serbia, this study was conducted in the fourth grade of primary school on a nationally representative sample of students - a total of 4379 students from 156 primary schools were tested, i.e. 219 classes. The average achievement of students from Serbia was 516 points in mathematics and in science, which in both cases represents achievement that is significantly higher than the center point of the TIMSS 4th grade scale. The paper also presents results according to content domains, differences in achievement between boys and girls, as well as students? distribution according to international benchmarks. The results are observed from the view point of overlapping of the Serbian curricula and the TIMSS test. Overall, these results can be seen as encouraging indicators of the Serbian education system for the first education cycle, particularly if we bear in mind relatively poor performance of students in higher grades in Serbia which had been shown in various previous studies. Since TIMSS findings should primarily be used in planning the development of education, the concluding part discusses the importance of regular participation of Serbia in international studies of this kind, as well as the importance of greater involvement of domestic researchers in analysis of available international databases.


Crisis ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie De Munck ◽  
Gwendolyn Portzky ◽  
Kees Van Heeringen

Background: Notwithstanding the epidemiological studies indicating an increased risk of attempted suicide among adolescents and young adults, there is a scarcity of international studies that examine long-term epidemiological trends in rates and characteristics of this vulnerable group. Aims: This article describes the results of a 9-year monitoring study of suicide attempts in adolescents and young adults referred to the Accident and Emergency Department of the Gent University Hospital (Belgium). Methods: Between January 1996 and December 2004, trends, sociodemographic, and methodrelated characteristics of suicide attempts were assessed by a psychiatrist on data sheets. Results: Attempted suicide rates declined from 1996 to 2001 and then rose until 2004, but did not exceed previous rates. During the 9 years of monitoring, there was a preponderance of female suicide attempters, except for 1997. Rates of attempts and of fatal suicide were negatively correlated. Significantly more males than females deliberately injured themselves. Younger attempters, especially females, significantly more often poisoned themselves with analgesics. In nearly one in five attempts, alcohol was used in combination with other methods, and alcohol intake was more commonly observed in older suicide attempters. Nearly half of the adolescents were identified as repeaters. Conclusions: The results of this study warrant further monitoring of trends and characteristics of young suicide attempters.


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