The Reliability of Trends over Time in International Education Test Scores: Is the Performance of England's Secondary School Pupils Really in Relative Decline?

2012 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
JOHN JERRIM

AbstractThe Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) are respected cross-national studies of pupil achievement. They have been specifically designed to study how countries’ educational systems are performing against one another, and how this is changing over time. These are, however, politically sensitive issues, where different surveys can produce markedly different results. This is shown via a case study for England, where apparent decline in PISA test performance has caused policymakers much concern. Results suggest that England's drop in the PISA ranking is not replicated in TIMSS, and that this contrast may be due to data limitations in both surveys. Consequently, I argue that the current coalition government should not base educational policies on the assumption that the performance of England's secondary school pupils has declined over the past decade.

Author(s):  
Xin Miao ◽  
Pawan Kumar Mishra ◽  
Ali Nadaf

Transforming the education system and building highly skilled human capital for a sustainable and competitive knowledge economy have been on the UAE’s top policy agendas for the last decade. However, in the UAE, students’ math performance on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has not been promising. To improve the quality of schooling, a series of malleable predictive factors including the contributions of self-system, metacognitive skills, and instructional language skills are selected and categorized under student approaches to math learning. These factors are hypothesized as both predictors and outcomes of K12 schooling. Through the analysis using machine learning technique, XGBoost, a latent relationship between student approaches to math learning and math diagnostic test performance is uncovered and discussed for students from Grade 5 to Grade 9 in Abu Dhabi public schools. This article details how the analysis results are applied for student behavior and performance prediction, precise diagnosis, and targeted intervention design possibilities. The main purpose of this study is to diagnose challenges that hinder student math learning in Abu Dhabi public schools, uncover R&D initiatives in AI-driven prediction and EdTech interventions to bridge learning gaps, and to counsel on national education policy refinement.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Inga Arffman

In international education studies, the different-language test versions need to be equally difficult to read and answer for the test to be valid. To ensure comparability, several quality control procedures have been developed. Among these, surprisingly little attention has been paid to judgmental reviews and their ability to identify language-related sources of bias. Also, the reviews have often failed in identifying biases. This paper explored whether it is possible to improve the ability of judgmental reviews to identify language-related sources of bias. A new review was made of two Finnish items which in the PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2000 reading test showed differential item functioning but for which no clear language-related explanations were found in the review in 2000. The items were compared systematically, at all linguistic levels, to the corresponding items in the English and French source versions, at the same time taking into account the cognitive processes required to answer them and students’ written responses to them. Language-related explanations were found for both items which may have led to differences in performance, suggesting that it is possible to make judgmental reviews better able to identify language-related bias. Suggestions are given on how to do this.


2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (68) ◽  
pp. 630
Author(s):  
Gabriela Moriconi ◽  
Adriana Bauer

<p>Nesta entrevista, Andreas Schleicher, Diretor de Educação e Assessor Especial em Política Educacional da Secretaria Geral da Organização para a Cooperação e Desenvolvimento Econômico (OCDE), comenta sobre o papel da OCDE e, em especial, do Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), no contexto educacional internacional, sua relação com atores da comunidade educacional, bem como os impactos de sua atuação. A entrevista aborda, ainda, aspectos relativos à participação do Brasil em programas e projetos educacionais da OCDE.</p><p><strong>Palavras-chave:</strong> Avaliação Internacional; Pesquisa Comparada; Pisa; OCDE.</p><p>  </p><p><strong>International education assessments and surveys: interview with Andreas Schleicher</strong></p><p>In this interview, Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Sills, and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the Secretary-General at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), comments on the role of the OECD and, in particular, of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), in the international education context, its relationship with actors in the educational community, as well as the impacts of its performance. The interview also addresses aspects related to Brazil’s participation in OECD educational programs and projects.</p><p><strong>Keywords:</strong> International Assessment; Comparative Research; Pisa; OECD.</p><p>  </p><p><strong>Evaluaciones e investigaciones educativas internacionales: entrevista con Andreas Schleicher</strong></p><p>En esta entrevista, Andreas Schleicher, Director de Educación y Asesor Especial en Política Educacional de la Secretaría General de la Organización para la Cooperación y Desarrollo Económico (OCDE), comenta sobre el papel de la OCDE y, en especial, del Programa Internacional de Evaluación de Estudiantes (PISA), en el contexto educativo internacional; su relación con actores de la comunidad educacional; así como los impactos de su actuación. La entrevista aborda asimismo aspectos relativos a la participación de Brasil en programas y proyectos educativos de la OCDE.</p><strong>Palabras-clave:</strong> Evaluación Internacional; Investigación Comparada; PISA; OCDE


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Aguirre Murúa

&lt;p&gt;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).&lt;br&gt;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.&amp;#160;&lt;br&gt;The aim of this paper is to present ideas and strategies followed in the last years by science teachers of Gustavo Adolfo B&amp;#233;cquer 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.&lt;br&gt;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. &amp;#160;&lt;br&gt;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&amp;#180;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&amp;#180;s index to quantify the academic evolution of students over the last 3 years in Gustavo Adolfo B&amp;#233;cquer secondary school and the results show really good evolution in &amp;#8220;percentage of students with all the subjects passed&amp;#8221; and the &amp;#8220;successful completion of the grade level previous to the last, in the high school&amp;#8221;.&lt;/p&gt;


Human Affairs ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Greger

AbstractThe present paper gives an overview of the reflections of and reactions to publishing the results of the first wave of the OECD study Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in the Czech Republic and in Germany. The choice of these two countries enables us to document how the same results could be perceived very differently in diverse country contexts and could lead to a different reaction from policy-makers. In spite of large reforms and numerous policy measures being adopted in Germany in reaction to the PISA results, compared with no response from policy-makers in the Czech Republic, it is argued, that in both countries policy-makers failed to tackle the major problem of their educational systems—its selective nature. In the final section we discuss various mis(uses) of PISA and its supranational and global character influencing local policies.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002071522098450
Author(s):  
Dieuwke Zwier ◽  
Sara Geven ◽  
Herman G. van de Werfhorst

Against the background of the worldwide expansion of shadow education, research shows that students from high socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds participate more in shadow education than students from disadvantaged SES backgrounds. We relate these social inequalities in shadow education participation to institutional features of educational systems. More specifically, we argue that the effect of socio-economic background on participation in shadow education will be stronger in countries characterized by high-stakes testing. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment for the year 2012 (PISA 2012), we show that higher SES students participate more in shadow education. For three out of four indicators of shadow education, this relationship is stronger in countries that are characterized by high-stakes testing but only when accounting for unobserved country differences.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-36
Author(s):  
Andreas Behr ◽  
Gerald Fugger

AbstractIn most countries, immigrant and native students perform differently in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) due to two main reasons: different immigration regimes and differences in their home-country educational systems. While there is sophisticated literature on the reasons for these performance gaps, it is barely considered in the educational efficiency research. Our approach distinguishes between selection effects caused by immigration policies, and the efficiency of educational systems in integrating immigrant students, given their socio–economic background. Accordingly, we split our sample, which consists of 153,374 students in 20 countries, calculate various different efficient frontiers, and ultimately decompose and interpret the resulting efficiency values. We find large differences in educational system efficiency, when controlling for negative selection effects caused by immigration regimes.


2015 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 20-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mulia Putra ◽  
Rita Novita

This study aimed to describe the profile of secondary school students with high mathematics ability in solving shape and space problem in PISA (Program for International Student Assessment). It is a descriptive research with a qualitative approach, in which the subjects in this study were students of class VIII SMP N 1 Banda Aceh. The results show that in solving the problem PISA on  shape and space, high mathematics ability students were able to identify the problem by making the information known from PISA issues related to the shape and space content.Keyword: Profile, Problem Solving, Task of PISA DOI: dx.doi.org/10.22342/jme.61.20


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 4869 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdullah Özkale ◽  
Emel Özdemir Erdoğan

The aim of the study is to analyse the position of financial literacy that increases its popularity in the worldwide in the mathematics curriculums of Turkey. Thus, the mathematics curriculums of elementary and secondary school emerged after 2005 are analysed. In this process, there are three main development points: 2005, 2013, 2017. The curriculums are analysed by domains declared in literacy analysing of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), by the initiatives of various countries which carried out related works, and by the framework of financial literacy. These situations are important for people and their families. Recently, The theme of financial literacy has been noticed in the education area. Financial literacy education initiatives and awareness working are carried out in developed and developing countries by leading The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The theme of financial literacy has been a fundamental factor in curriculums some countries such as Australia, Canada, The United Kingdom, and The United States. In Turkey, the head “Conscious Consumption Aritmetry” is added to mathematics curriculums in 2009, and the theme of financial literacy is declared in the curriculums in 2017. The mathematics curriculums of elementary and secondary school published in 2005 include financial knowledge & skills, and relationships between mathematical and financial concepts implicitly. But its position has reduced in the new curriculums in years. In elementary level, the head “our money” is included all of them although the head “Conscious Consumption Aritmetry” has been handled at various levels. In Turkey, the theme of financial literacy should be integrated into related curriculums like mathematics. So, firstly an educational policy should be occurred intended for financial literacy and the curriculums should be revised according to financial literacy.Extended English abstract is in the end of Full Text PDF (TURKISH) file.ÖzetEkonomik İşbirliği ve Kalkınma Örgütü (OECD) öncülünde gelişmiş ve gelişmekte olan ülkelerde okul çağındaki öğrenciler ve yetişkinler için finansal okuryazarlık eğitimleri ve bilinçlendirme çalışmaları yürütülmektedir. Kanada, Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Birleşik Krallık, Avustralya gibi birçok ülkede finansal okuryazarlık, öğretim programlarında temel faktörlerden biri olarak yerini almıştır. Bu çalışmanın amacı dünyada önemi giderek artan finansal okuryazarlığın Türkiye’de uygulanan matematik öğretim programlarındaki durumunu incelemektir. Nitel araştırma desenine sahip bu çalışmada 2005 yılından sonra geliştirilen 2005 ilköğretim ve ortaöğretim, 2013 ilkokul, ortaokul ve ortaöğretim, 2017 ilkokul-ortaokul ve ortaöğretim matematik öğretim programları doküman incelemesi yöntemi ile ele alınmaktadır. Dikey karşılaştırma yaklaşımının benimsendiği çalışmada dokümanlar finansal okuryazarlık literatürü ve uluslararası öğrenci değerlendirme sınavı (PISA)’nın finansal okuryazarlık yaklaşımı çerçevesinde değerlendirilmektedir. Öğretim hedefleri, kazanımlar ve öğrenme süreçlerinin analizinde içerik analizi uygulanmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular ışığında, Türkiye’de 2009 yılında matematik öğretim programına “Bilinçli Tüketim Aritmetiği” başlığıyla finansal okuryazarlığa adım atıldığı, 2017 yılındaki değişiklikle “finansal okuryazarlık” kavramının kazanımlarda yer bulduğu görülmektedir. 2005 ilköğretim ve ortaöğretim matematik öğretim programlarında örtük şekilde finansal bilgi ve becerilere farklı öğrenme alanlarında yer verildiği, matematiksel ve finansal kavramlar arasında ilişkilendirmeler yapıldığı ancak bu durumun revize edilen yeni programlarda giderek zayıfladığı saptanmıştır. Programların oluşumundaki önemi ve yoğunluğu dikkate alındığında finansal okuryazarlığa yönelik bir eğitim politikası oluşturulması ve buna uygun olarak öğretim programlarının revize edilmesi gerektiği görülmektedir.


2010 ◽  
Vol 41 (4) ◽  
pp. 230-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul N’Dri Konan ◽  
Armand Chatard ◽  
Leila Selimbegović ◽  
Gabriel Mugny

Drawing on data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Program for International Student Assessment (OECD/PISA), we examined the relationship between the percentage of immigrant students and the reading and mathematics performances of native and immigrant students across nations. In line with research on cultural diversity, results indicated performance benefits as the percentage of immigrant students increased across nations. Interestingly, these effects remained significant for both native and immigrant students, once several other predictors of test performance at the national, school, and individual levels were controlled for. These findings challenge the assumption that the increasing presence of immigrant students in educational institutions represents a threat to native students’ academic performance. Potential mechanisms are proposed and discussed, offering new avenues for research.


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