The relationship between inquiry-based teaching and students’ achievement. New evidence from a longitudinal PISA study in England

Inquiry-based science teaching involves supporting pupils to acquire scientific knowledge indirectly by conducting their own scientific experiments, rather than receiving scientific knowledge directly from teachers. This approach to instruction is widely used among science educators in many countries. However, researchers and policymakers have recently called the effectiveness of inquiry approaches into doubt. Using nationally-representative linked survey and administrative data we find little evidence that the frequency of inquiry-based instruction is positively associated with teenagers’ performance in science examinations. This finding is robust to the use of different measures of inquiry, different measures of attainment, across classrooms with varying levels of disciplinary standards and across gender and prior attainment subgroups.     

The immigrant paradox and math self-concept: An SES-of-origin-country hypothesis

The immigrant paradox is the phenomenon where recent immigrants have better outcomes than individuals from native-born families. Although limited past research has shown the paradox to exist for math self-concept, neither its exact nature nor a theoretical explanation for its existence have been reported. Using Australian cohort data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2003 (N = 12,551) and 2012 (N = 14,481), we first establish that immigrant students have higher math self-concepts than native students, controlling for gender and absolute parental socioeconomic status (SES), and show that it is similar to—albeit weaker than—the expectation-achievement gap. We then provide an SES-of-origin-country hypothesis as a contextual explanation for this effect; we show that the immigrant paradox for both math self-concept and educational expectations substantially reduces when accounting for parents' SES relative to their country-of-origin. Our findings suggest that the paradox for math self-concept and educational expectations may partly result from immigrant parents’ socioeconomic advantage in their home countries.     

Does Performance in Digital Reading Relate to Computer Game Playing? A Study of Factor Structure and Gender Patterns in 15-Year-Olds' Reading Literacy Performance

Data from a Swedish PISA-sample were used (1) to identify a digital reading factor, (2) to investigate gender differences in this factor (if found), and (3) to explore how computer game playing might relate to digital reading performance and gender. The analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling techniques. In addition to an overall reading factor, the hypothesized digital reading factor was identified. When the overall reading performance was taken into account, a relative difference in favor of the boys for digital reading was indicated. This effect was mediated by a game-playing factor comprising the amount of time spent on playing computer games. Thus, the boys' better performance in digital reading was explained by the computer game-playing factor.     

PISA学习参与度评价

国际学生评估项目(PISA)越来越重视学生的学习参与度评价,特别是在针对具体学科领域的参与度评价上做了许多有益的探索,为我国基础教育课程中"情感态度与价值观"的评价提供了借鉴.     

A Regression Model With a New Tool： IDB Analyzer for Identifying Factors Predicting Mathematics Performance Using PISA 2012 Indices

There are many studies that focus on factors affecting achievement. However, there is limited research that used student characteristics indices reported by the Programme for International Student Assessment （PISA）. Therefore, this study investigated the predictive effects of student characteristics on mathematics performance of Turkish students. In PISA studies, sampling design, sampling weights, and plausible values have to be taken into consideration in order not to have biased multiple regression results. In order to conduct multiple regression analyses in PISA, software called the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement （lEA） International Database （IDB） Analyzer is required to be used because the dependent variable consists of several plausible values. This study aims to identify student characteristics that are significant in predicting mathematics performance in Turkey. Results showed that being successful in mathematics is a combination of several factors in which students＇ beliefs, motivation, and other factors must be organized to achieve mathematics. Among these beliefs and motivation, strong self-efficacy, positive self-concept, and minimum level of anxiety seem to be the key for success.     

天津学生数学学习的性别差异——来自PISA的结果

数学学习的性别差异一直是人们关心的问题。PISA 2012测评结果显示,虽然天津男生与女生数学学习成绩不存在差异,但男女生数学学习的驱动力、动机和自我信念还是有明显差异。与男生相比,女生学习的坚持性、问题解决的开发性、对自身解决数学问题能力的自信更差,而数学焦虑更强,更倾向于将数学学习失败的责任归咎于自身以外的因素。     

Heterogeneity Analysis on the Influence of the Supply of Teachers on the Academic Performance of 15-Year-Old Students: Based on PISA 2018 Samples from Four Provinces and Municipalities in China

The quantitative and qualitative supply of teachers has a significant influence on student academic performance. Based on the samples collected from four provinces and municipalities in China for the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2018, this study analyzes the effects of the supply of teachers on the academic performance of 15-year-old students through a hierarchical linear model (HLM) as well as a quantile regression model. The study has found that the shortage of teachers and the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree significantly affect student academic performance, and the supply of teachers with higher degrees has a decreasing marginal benefit on student academic performance; its best marginal benefit on student academic performance is achieved when the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree reaches about 75%. For students in different academic performance subgroups, the marginal benefit of an increase in the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree in schools is higher for “top students” than for “students with learning difficulties.” In terms of the difference between urban and rural areas, the shortage of teachers in rural schools is more prominent than that in urban schools, and teachers with higher degrees tend to cluster in core cities. The marginal benefit of an increase in the proportion of teachers with a master’s degree is higher for improving student academic performance in rural areas. Therefore, it is recommended to design a policy of differentiated compensatory earnings for rural teachers, and efforts should be enhanced to promote programs for supporting high-quality teachers. In addition, the allocation of teachers should follow the principle of “differentiated equity,” and more differentiated teaching strategies should be adopted for students with different academic abilities.     

Performance Analysis and Future Prospect of China’s Anti-bullying Policy and Practice: Evidence from PISA 2015 and PISA 2018

This paper analyzes the performance of China’s anti-bullying efforts with the data on school bullying in the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2015 and PISA 2018. It is found that China has fully demonstrated its high performance in anti-bullying actions with all three key performance indicators dropping dramatically, namely the prevalence of bullying, the index of exposure to bullying, and the percentage of frequently bullied students. Further, from the perspectives of personal characteristics and school features, two rounds of PISA data are adopted to make the longitudinal diachronic comparison and the cross-national horizontal comparison, followed by the analysis of the occurrence and development patterns of school bullying. Five suggestions are put forward for the deployment of China’s anti-bullying action plan.     

Global-local Education Policy Dynamics: A Case Study of New Zealand and Norway

ABSTRACT

While a number of studies have established the growing role impact PISA has had on national education policy, much less is known about the global-local recontextualization of policy transfer, and the role of national policy officials. Through interviews with key policy officials in Norway and New Zealand, the study revealed a growing cosmopolitanism in outlook in both countries with strong indications of changes made to respond to PISA data. However, officials also reasserted the strengths of their national education system and worked to enrich OECD understandings of educational quality. Theorizing through Bourdieu, the authors propose that the concept of cosmopolitan capital provides a useful analytical tool to explain increasingly outward and globally-oriented practices and dispositions held by policy officials within a global education policy field.     

Education quality,and teaching and learning in the post-2015 education agenda

At present, there is an intense and wide-ranging debate on the future of global development. This debate occurs in a context of increasing global inequality, global economic recession, conflict, and climate change. Discussions about the post-2015 education and development agenda in this context ambitiously seek to eradicate poverty, promote social and economic inclusion, tackle climate change, promote equity, and access to quality education. While the exact goals are not yet agreed and the shape of the final post-2015 development is still to be settled, there is a widespread consensus that education is priority and that equitable and quality education is core to the agenda. In this context, this paper discusses the continuities and discontinuities in the proposed post-2015 quality agenda through a textual analysis of UNESCO consultations on Education for All (EFA). In particular, this article focuses on the UNESCO post-2015 position paper and the Muscat Global Education meeting agreement in April 2015. They are significant policy texts as they evidence the current global education discourse on education and the development agenda and reflect the broad consultations and thinking reflected in the thematic consultations. They also are important as they seek to clarify and secure the focus on the Education for All goals within a future post-2015 development agenda. The analysis of these texts pays particular attention to how quality is conceptualised in these texts, how it is translated into targets and how teachers are located in the global education quality discourse. The paper argues that while potentially broad conceptualisations of quality emerge from these texts, quality is still being defined as literacy and numeracy and still being constrained by what can be measured. While teachers are identified as crucial to the quality agenda, there is still a failure to engage more broadly with teaching and learning as well as the diverse contexts of teaching and learning. The article argues that what is needed is a continued foregrounding of quality as a dynamic, process oriented social justice endeavour to give effect to a holistic and comprehensive approach to the broad quality agenda.