On 13 December Stephen Black wrote in relation to comparative tests of school student achievements in different countries: >One problem with such a massive cross-country >comparison is that the method by which students >are selected may have a biasing effect on the >results, for example, if a country selects only elite >students to take the tests.
Stephen: Thanks for doing the hard work of checking out the reports cited in the Spectator article (see below). I'm with you on your (implied) point that such comparisons get widely quoted as if they are objective facts without regard to the methodology of the studies. (And this applies in general to educational and sociological comparisons between countries.) However, one can make judgements on the basis of the standard of questions that students at a specific age are tested on, such as questions in a university entrance level examination that a large cohort of students take. Allen Esterson Former lecturer, Science Department Southwark College, London allenester...@compuserve.com http://www.esterson.org ---------------------------------------------- From: sbl...@ubishops.ca Subject: Re: Teacher evaluations and learning Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2010 10:41:54 -0500 On 13 Dec 2010 at 2:10, Allen Esterson wrote: > And, I would add, between Asian and British schooling as well. Some > idea of the differences, and an indication that China is likely to > experience a surge in scientific achievements in the coming years, can > be seen from this article: > > http://www.spectator.co.uk/essays/6526228/the-gaokao-challenge.thtml > The link which Allen provided cites an ambitious continuing study carried out by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development) called PISA (for Programme for International Student Assessment--see http://tinyurl.com/53x42). Its findings are interesting yet puzzling. They're also gratifying to me, because they show (2009 data) that Canada is listed near the top in terms of the school achievement of 15-year-olds as determined by standardized tests. For what it's worth, the rankings as given on the 4th page of Allen's link shows China (Shanghai) at the top of the list, Canada in 6th position, the USA in 17th, and the UK in 25th (full listings, ranked but unnumbered, at http://www.pisa.oecd.org/dataoecd/54/12/46643496.pdf ) The puzzle is to understand the reasons behind the ranks. While Asian countries are among the highest, the presence of Finland and Canada among them prevents any easy generalization. Actually, I'm surprised to find us up there, because I can't think of any school policy of ours that is particularly notable, innovative, or effective. But we must be doing something right. Possible reasons for the rankings may well be buried somewhere in the documentation for PISA, but I couldn't find it. One problem with such a massive cross-country comparison is that the method by which students are selected may have a biasing effect on the results, for example, if a country selects only elite students to take the tests. All they say about it is this: "Reporting student data The report uses "15-year-olds" as shorthand for the PISA target population. PISA covers students who are aged between 15 years 3 months and 16 years 2 months at the time of assessment and who have completed at least 6 years of formal schooling, regardless of the type of institution in which they are enrolled and of whether they are in full-time or parttime education, whether they attend academic or vocational programmes, and whether they attend public or private schools or foreign schools within the country. " (http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/31/28/46660259.pdf ) But they don't say how those institutions are selected. Stephen -------------------------------------------- Stephen L. Black, Ph.D. Professor of Psychology, Emeritus Bishop's University Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada e-mail: sblack at ubishops.ca --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=7183 or send a blank email to leave-7183-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
