The Global Education Race: Taking the Measure of PISA and International Testing

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Brush Education, Apr 3, 2017 - Education - 120 pages

 A global education race now pits countries, regions, and school systems against one another. The racecourse has been created by a small number of influential international testing programs, and the popular media announces winners and losers. Fear of falling behind haunts policy-makers and shapes educational priorities around the world. But are we running in the right direction?

We all have a stake in education, and as informed citizens we need to understand the increasingly influential and controversial phenomenon of international testing and what it means for students and the future of our schools. The Global Education Race provides educators, parents, and policy-makers with a lively and accessible introduction to the most influential international testing program: PISA, the Programme for International Student Assessment, operated by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The authors draw on the latest research on assessment and education policy to provide a clear account of how the test works and to investigate PISA’s influence on educational goals and practice in schools around the world. The book aims to provoke informed debate about the role of testing, data, and comparison in educational change. Includes a foreword by David C. Berliner and Pasi Sahlberg.

 

Contents

Introduction Running the wrong race?
2
1 The PISA Racetrack
5
2 Stories
17
3 Rankings
27
4 Tests
41
5 Comparisons
55
6 Validity
69
7 Politics
83
Conclusion Helping policy makers find the right track
95
Copyright

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About the author (2017)

Sam Sellar, PhD, is Reader in Education Studies at Manchester Metropolitan University and a member of the Board of Directors for the Laboratory of International Assessment Studies. Sam has studied school systems in Australia, Canada and the United Kingdom to explore how educational data shape policy and practice in schools.

Greg Thompson, PhD, is Associate Professor of Education Research at Queensland University of Technology (QUT). His research focuses on educational theory, education policy, and the philosophy/sociology of education assessment and measurement with a particular emphasis on large-scale testing.

David Rutkowski, PhD, is Professor of Educational Measurement at the Center for Educational Measurement at the University of Oslo, Norway. His research is focused in the area of educational policy and international large-scale assessment.

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