Hysteria over PISA misses the point
By Valerie Strauss
Finland is so over. Now it’s all about Shanghai.
The 2009 results released today from the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, caused consternation in the United States today when American students racked up generally average scores in reading, science and math. Where they’ve been for years.
Today’s big news: Students from Shanghai, participating for the first time in the program, came out on top in all three areas out of about 65 countries and other education systems.
Here come the Chinese, or, rather, the Shanghainese.
You’d think it would be the Finns who would be beside themselves: They lost their top literacy ranking to South Korea; the United States was 17th. In math, Sinagpore was second in math; the United States, 31st. In science, Finland, was in second place; the United States, 23rd.
Reaction here was swift, sharp and sometimes hysterical.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan: “For me, it’s a massive wake-up call.”
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee: “ .... Average won’t help us regain our global role as a leader in education. Average won’t help our students get the jobs of tomorrow. Average is the status quo and it’s failing our country. This is clearly an issue we need to tackle in the next Congress ... ”
And then there was Chester E. Finn Jr., a former assistant secretary of education and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who wrote on his Flypaper blog:
“On Pearl Harbor Day 2010, the United States (and much of the rest of the world) was attacked by China.
“Too melodramatic? Maybe you’d prefer 'Sixty-three years after Sputnik caused an earthquake in American education by giving us reason to believe that the Soviet Union had surpassed us, China delivered the aftershock.'
“It came via yet another wonky study, The PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do, reporting that on a test of math, reading and science given to fifteen year olds in sixty-five countries in 2009, Shanghai’s 15-year-olds topped those in every other jurisdiction in ALL THREE SUBJECTS. What’s more, Hong Kong ranked in the top four on all three assessments ....
“... Will this be the wake-up call that America needs to get serious about educational achievement? Will it be the Sputnik of our time? Will it stir us out of our torpor and get us beyond our excuse-making, our bickering over who should do what, our prioritizing of adult interests and our hang-ups about the very kinds of changes that China is now making while we dither?"
Well, maybe.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
Shanghai is not representative of the entire Chinese population, and China makes no pretense of trying to educate the entire populace, as we do. Hong Kong, of course, is not ruled by Beijing.
But it is a test-driven society (an educational culture that Finn himself did not find when he attended Exeter Academy), which actually is right in line with today’s American school reform philosophy.
But our high-stakes standardized test obsession, the ones mandated by No Child Left Behind, have, apparently, done nothing to improve the reading, science and math literacy of American 15-year-olds … if, that is, you put a lot of stock in the results of one international testing system. And even if you don't.
For nearly a decade, public schools have been test-obsessed, and charter schools have abounded. Those who hold test scores as important measures of progress should face the obvious: NCLB didn't work.
And that is something Congress should seriously consider when it decides whether, and how, to change No Child Left Behind.
Some details from the PISA report on the performance of U.S. students:
• U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 500 on the combined reading literacy scale, not measurably different from the OECD average score of 493. Among the 33 other OECD countries, 6 countries had higher average scores than the United States, 13 had lower average scores, and 14 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries and other education systems, 9 had higher average scores than the United States, 39 had lower average scores, and 16 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average.
• U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 487 on the mathematics literacy scale, which was lower than the OECD average score of 496. Among the 33 other OECD countries, 17 countries had higher average scores than the United States, 5 had lower average scores, and 11 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries, and other education systems, 23 had higher average scores than the United States, 29 had lower average scores, and 12 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average score.
• On the science literacy scale, the average score of U.S. students (502) was not measurably different from the OECD average (501). Among the 33 other OECD countries, 12 had higher average scores than the United States, 9 had lower average scores, and 12 had average scores that were not measurably different. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries, and other education systems, 18 had higher average scores, 33 had lower average scores, and 13 had average scores that were not measurably different from the U.S. average score.
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December 7, 2010; Categories: No Child Left Behind, Standardized Tests | Tags: international comparisons, nclb, no child left behind, pisa, pisa rankings, pisa reaction, u.s. scoring on pisa, where u.s. ranks in pisa
The 2009 results released today from the Program for International Student Assessment, known as PISA, caused consternation in the United States today when American students racked up generally average scores in reading, science and math. Where they’ve been for years.
Today’s big news: Students from Shanghai, participating for the first time in the program, came out on top in all three areas out of about 65 countries and other education systems.
Here come the Chinese, or, rather, the Shanghainese.
You’d think it would be the Finns who would be beside themselves: They lost their top literacy ranking to South Korea; the United States was 17th. In math, Sinagpore was second in math; the United States, 31st. In science, Finland, was in second place; the United States, 23rd.
Reaction here was swift, sharp and sometimes hysterical.
Education Secretary Arne Duncan: “For me, it’s a massive wake-up call.”
U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee: “ .... Average won’t help us regain our global role as a leader in education. Average won’t help our students get the jobs of tomorrow. Average is the status quo and it’s failing our country. This is clearly an issue we need to tackle in the next Congress ... ”
And then there was Chester E. Finn Jr., a former assistant secretary of education and president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, who wrote on his Flypaper blog:
“On Pearl Harbor Day 2010, the United States (and much of the rest of the world) was attacked by China.
“Too melodramatic? Maybe you’d prefer 'Sixty-three years after Sputnik caused an earthquake in American education by giving us reason to believe that the Soviet Union had surpassed us, China delivered the aftershock.'
“It came via yet another wonky study, The PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do, reporting that on a test of math, reading and science given to fifteen year olds in sixty-five countries in 2009, Shanghai’s 15-year-olds topped those in every other jurisdiction in ALL THREE SUBJECTS. What’s more, Hong Kong ranked in the top four on all three assessments ....
“... Will this be the wake-up call that America needs to get serious about educational achievement? Will it be the Sputnik of our time? Will it stir us out of our torpor and get us beyond our excuse-making, our bickering over who should do what, our prioritizing of adult interests and our hang-ups about the very kinds of changes that China is now making while we dither?"
Well, maybe.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here.
Shanghai is not representative of the entire Chinese population, and China makes no pretense of trying to educate the entire populace, as we do. Hong Kong, of course, is not ruled by Beijing.
But it is a test-driven society (an educational culture that Finn himself did not find when he attended Exeter Academy), which actually is right in line with today’s American school reform philosophy.
But our high-stakes standardized test obsession, the ones mandated by No Child Left Behind, have, apparently, done nothing to improve the reading, science and math literacy of American 15-year-olds … if, that is, you put a lot of stock in the results of one international testing system. And even if you don't.
For nearly a decade, public schools have been test-obsessed, and charter schools have abounded. Those who hold test scores as important measures of progress should face the obvious: NCLB didn't work.
And that is something Congress should seriously consider when it decides whether, and how, to change No Child Left Behind.
Some details from the PISA report on the performance of U.S. students:
• U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 500 on the combined reading literacy scale, not measurably different from the OECD average score of 493. Among the 33 other OECD countries, 6 countries had higher average scores than the United States, 13 had lower average scores, and 14 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries and other education systems, 9 had higher average scores than the United States, 39 had lower average scores, and 16 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average.
• U.S. 15-year-olds had an average score of 487 on the mathematics literacy scale, which was lower than the OECD average score of 496. Among the 33 other OECD countries, 17 countries had higher average scores than the United States, 5 had lower average scores, and 11 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries, and other education systems, 23 had higher average scores than the United States, 29 had lower average scores, and 12 had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average score.
• On the science literacy scale, the average score of U.S. students (502) was not measurably different from the OECD average (501). Among the 33 other OECD countries, 12 had higher average scores than the United States, 9 had lower average scores, and 12 had average scores that were not measurably different. Among the 64 other OECD countries, non-OECD countries, and other education systems, 18 had higher average scores, 33 had lower average scores, and 13 had average scores that were not measurably different from the U.S. average score.
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