PISA Country Rankings for Italy and Spain: Revised Results

This article examines whether the way that PISA models item outcomes in mathematics affects the validity of its country rankings. As an alternative to PISA methodology, a two-parameter logistic model is applied to PISA mathematics item data from Italy and Spain for the year 2009. In the estimation procedure, item difficulty and dispersion parameters were allowed to differ across the two countries and samples were restricted to respondents who actually answered items in a mathematics cluster. Different normalizations for identifying the distribution parameters were also considered. The choice of normalization is shown to be crucial in guaranteeing certain invariance properties required by item response models. The ability or proficiency scores obtained from the methods employed here are significantly higher for Spain, in sharp contrast to PISA results, which gave both countries virtually the same rank in mathematics (489 for Italy and 488 for Spain). These results raise serious questions about PISA methodology and the role that PISA results play in the formulation educational policy in member countries.     

Steering the National: Exploring the Education Policy Uses of PISA in Spain

This article presents findings from a recent study of the education policy uses and impact of international large-scale assessments, namely the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The paper focuses on two overlapping dimensions of PISA’s education policy use in the context of Spain. These include political dimensions, such as the use of PISA to initiate and justify the 2012?2013 educational reforms; and technical dimensions, namely the use of PISA in the development of national-level indicators used to benchmark progress and guide education and curriculum reform. The study points to the growing dominance of PISA as a powerful policy tool. Findings from the paper add to the body of literature on the different ways in which international assessments are used to guide education policy within national spaces and the role of the OECD as an agent of transnational policy steering.     

PISA in Spain: Expectations,impact and debate

PISA, which was launched by OECD, is one of the most significant and successful initiatives on which education systems have recently collectively embarked. However, although it is a well‐coordinated international programme, its reception differs according to country. There is therefore a need to analyse specific national circumstances in order to gain a deeper understanding of the undertaking as a whole. This article specifically considers Spain's participation in PISA and focuses on a number of aspects: a) the expectations created when it joined the programme, in parallel to the implementation of its own national education evaluation system; b) the impact PISA has had, both in the media and in political and discursive spheres; and c) the technical and scientific debates generated in Spanish academic media. Finally, it is argued that, in the last few years, PISA has met with a certain disenchantment among specialists and the public opinion because of its limitations as a ranking tool, the difficulty in explaining its findings, and its inability to prescribe education policies that are suitable for very different contexts.     

Experience and Challenge of Basic Education Development in China: Reflections on PISA 2018 Results

The outstanding performance of students in four Chinese provinces and municipalities in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018 is inextricably linked to local resource support, excellent education traditions, and ongoing curriculum and teaching reform. However, deepening education reform requires attention to existing challenges, including large inter school gaps, the shortage of teachers in urban and rural areas, as well as students’ heavy schoolwork burden and low level of well-being. Therefore, several policy suggestions are proposed accordingly: gaining insight into and developing higher quality and fairer education, pursuing effective actions of education reform, and exploring innovative pathways to address educational problems.     

中国与韩国科学影子教育时间对科学素养的影响研究——基于PISA2015测评数据分析

随着知识经济时代的到来,教育竞争越来越激烈,影子教育系统也不断扩张,尤其是在中国、 韩国等东亚国家,但其时间投入如何影响学生的核心素养却不明晰,尤其是针对我国基础教育阶段影子教育的实证研究比较缺乏,科学领域的影子教育研究更是鲜见,导致政府干预科学影子教育缺乏指导依据.基于中国与韩国PISA2015的测评数据,在充分考虑...     

Sex and Social Class Inequalities in Education: a re‐examination

Fifteen years ago attention was drawn to the neglect of sex differences in the sociology of education, and to ways in which social class differences in attainment could not ignore these sex differences. The original propositions concerning these differences are re‐examined and expanded in a neo‐Weberian analysis of the work‐marriage, class‐status, education complex, and considered in relation to the available empirical evidence. The alternative feminist‐Marxist approaches are found to be incompatible with the evidence of sex and social class differences in non‐capitalist societies.     

经验与启示:2000-2009年加拿大PISA测试结果分析

加拿大在2000-2009年的PISA测评中取得了骄人的成绩,分析得知这与它有重视教育的优良传统、统一的省级课程、高质量的教师以及成功的移民教育等背景有关。加拿大在最近的教育改革中重视政府领导作用、建立合理的问责制度、注重教育公平和均衡发展、加强教师队伍建设、吸引优秀人才长期从教、终身从教等方面的经验对我国目前的教育改革具有参照启示。     

“影子教育”的社会影响及发展方向

"影子教育"作为主流学校教育之外的一种补充性教育,在中国教育体系中扮演着重要角色。但其薄弱的研究基础,使其逐渐成为深化教育领域综合改革的痼疾。文章把"影子教育"视为一个不可忽视的教育问题进行剖析,希望引起不同学科研究者的关注,并立足自身研究领域的基础,对"影子教育"开展全方位多角度的理论研究,为"影子教育"的健康发展提供多重的理论视角。     

Stratification in Higher Education, Choice and Social Inequalities in Greece

Higher education has expanded to a remarkable extent in many countries in recent decades. Although this has led to high levels of participation, inequalities not only persist but are also strengthened. The persistence of inequalities is partly the result of policies for the widening of participation having been accompanied by institutional stratification with educational choices being unequal and socially defined. There is evidence that with the development of new university departments and the increase in the number of university entrants in Greece, a stratified system of higher education has emerged. This study draws on quantitative data that provides evidence that choice has been driven largely by the students' social class: the close relationship between social class and educational opportunities has remained intact. Furthermore, social inequalities in access and distribution in higher education persist, despite the substantial increase in participation in higher education. Social class is a key factor in the interpretation of choice of study, which, along with the performance in the national level examinations that determines entrance into universities, has also led to the increase in the stratification of higher education institutions.     

欧盟“影子教育”初探

基于《影子教育的挑战:欧盟家教及其对政策制定者的影响》报告,发现:主导文化的变迁、全民教育运动的推动、教师工资足额支付结构的崩溃、政府教育公共投入的紧缩、对家庭和个人需求的满足促使影子教育在欧盟兴起,且规模化、产业化特征明显。同时它在需求方呈现出阶层差异性,地域分布呈现出城乡和国别差异性、供方师资来源和补习形式呈现出多样性、补习科目呈现出考试取向性。它的发展不可阻挡,但对公平、教育和经济亦有影响。     

Education and Social Services for Disabled Persons in Spain

DETAILED INFORMATION about education and social services for disabled children and adults, with emphasis on the hearing impaired population is provided. Information is derived from an extensive series of interviews conducted with representatives of government, international agencies, and private sector organizations, as well as health professionals, educators, and disabled persons. A broad discussion of policy and health services follows an overview of demographic and historical background. Spain's leaders recognize the nation's dependence on human resources to affirm its place in the international community and understand that an educated citizenry ensures the preservation of democracy and functions as an instrument for social transformation. These insights have driven major changes in service delivery to the disabled, including a national project for the integration of disabled children into regular classrooms. The National Centre of Resources for Special Education (NCRSE) is responsible for overseeing the national integration project; provision of inservices to teachers and other professionals; development, adaptation and distribution of curricular materials designed to improve the learning process; adaptation of evaluation instruments for students with special educational needs; and promotion of research in the field of special education.     

基于PISA视角下的基础教育质量标准分析

PISA在评价国际基础教育发展水平中扮演着重要角色。从PISA的视角出发,分别就质量标准指标体系、核心能力、课程建设、评价机制等要素,对基础教育质量标准进行剖析,并总结提出了PISA的特点及相关理论、技术对构建我国基础教育质量标准的启示:构建质量与公平并行的指标体系,开展基于核心能力培养的课程建设,建立全面有效的质量监测系统。     

Fight Dispersion Through Education: The Results of the First Cycle of the NoOut Project

Dropping out of school can involve several internal and external factors. Regarding internal factors, learning difficulties and the experience of failure could trigger the withdrawal of commitment, rejection of and resistance to school, as well as a general perception of inadequacy. Here, we show the results of a series of interventions implemented in four schools. Participants were subjected to a total of 70 hr of interventions in class over a 6‐month period during which active and nontraditional teaching was promoted. Before and after the interventions, the Das‐Naglieri Cognitive Assessment System (CAS) was administered to participants in order to assess whether there was any enhancement of the cognitive functions that underlie learning processes. The results show a significant improvement in almost every experimental group, compared with control groups, suggesting that this kind of approach could lead to a systematic improvement in the cognitive resources of students, thereby diminishing the risk of failure and dropping out.     

合作问题解决素养的提升与发展——基于PISA 2015合作问题解决测试结果的启示

介绍PISA 2015年合作问题解决的测试框架,讲述了三个合作维度和四个问题解决认知过程的测评要素,并结合我国四个地区学生在合作问题解决方面的表现进行分析。PISA 2015的结果显示,我国大陆地区学生在合作问题解决方面表现中等,高水平比例较低;在态度得分较高,合作维度表现突出;其表现与学科表现相关度较弱。相比其他OECD国家和地区,在"合作问题解决"表现上,我国学校校间差异较大;且社会经济地位解释率较高。这要求我们在跨学科、学科内、课堂教学活动形式方面加强培养,并提升社区、学校和家庭的合作机制,共同塑造合作问题解决的环境和机会。     

The use (and misuse) of PISA in guiding policy reform: the case of Spain

In 2013 Spain introduced a series of educational reforms explicitly inspired by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012 results. These reforms were mainly implemented in secondary education – based upon the assumption that this is where Spain's educational problems lie. This paper questions this assumption by attempting to identify the point where Spanish children fall behind young people in other developed countries. Specifically, by drawing data from multiple international assessments, we are able to explore how cross-national differences in reading skills change as children age. Consideration is given to both the average level of achievement and the evolution of educational inequalities. Our conclusion is that policy-makers have focused their efforts on the wrong part of the education system; educational achievement is low in Spain (and educational inequalities large) long before children enter secondary school. This study therefore serves as a note of caution against simplistic interpretation of the PISA rankings.     

基于情感分析的社交网络意见领袖的识别:以情感分类为手段

在社交网络中进行意见领袖的挖掘对信息传播与演化的深度分析、舆情监控和引导具有重要意义。结合情感分析,挖掘在专业知识领域受到大众支持的正面意见领袖是本项目研究重点。实验对比发现,Leader-Page Rank算法能够结合社交网络的用户交互,更有效客观地识别在专业领域中的正面意见领袖。