International Developments (No.1) 2010

id INTERNATIONAL d e v elo p m ent s ISSN 1838-6172 No. 1 2010 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Partner focus World Bank Regional focus Latin America Middle East Issue focus Medical testing International Schools’ Assessment Program Australian Council for Educational Research Photography by Newspix/Bruce Long ACER recognises the importance of equipping students, teachers and school leaders with the skills necessary to thrive in a global environment, and has set itself an ambitious agenda for the coming decade to achieve this. Professor Geoff Masters Chief Executive Officer Our agenda is international. The commitment of ACER to providing high quality educational research and services to the international community has always been strong, as demonstrated by the establishment of the Australian Council for Educational Research (India) and ACER’s office in the United Arab Emirates. This commitment continues to grow, with the rapid expansion of ACER’s work overseas. International Developments presents a showcase of some of ACER’s recent international work, to demonstrate the ways in which ACER brings its extensive expertise and international experience to bear on the many and varied challenges of improving educational outcomes throughout the world. Through all our work, ACER strives to provide clearer understandings of the challenges confronting education systems, learning institutions, educational leaders, teachers and learners themselves, and better understandings of the most effective, researchbased ways of addressing those challenges. ACER understands the importance of quality assessment and evaluation of students, teachers and education systems in guiding and informing educational policy. ACER conducts many national and international assessment activities, including the International Schools’ Assessment Program, and leads the consortium for the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment. ACER also works with universities in the United Kingdom and Ireland, among other countries, to develop, manage and evaluate selection tests for undergraduate medical and health-related programs. ACER is committed to collaboration and the mutual exchange of ideas in the design and implementation of any major educational project, and works closely with local and international organisations and national governments to ascertain needs and implement programs in culturally and socially appropriate manner. To highlight this ethos, this issue of International Developments will focus on some of ACER’s regional achievements and organisational partnerships. ACER also firmly believes that education is a key aspect of development in less advantaged countries and communities, and is closely involved with the international educational development sector. ACER has undertaken projects through UNESCO, AusAID and the World Bank to supply educational consultancy services based on international best-practice to less developed countries. All of ACER’s work, including that discussed in International Developments, is aligned with our ongoing commitment to ensuring that all students, regardless of circumstance and nationality, have access to a quality education. CONTENTS International Developments International Developments is published by Australian Council for Educational Research 19 Prospect Hill Road Camberwell VIC 3124 Phone: (03) 9277 5555 Email: Website: www.acer.edu.au Copyright © 2010 Australian Council for Educational Research Printed December 2010 All rights reserved. Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publishers. No. 1 2010 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Partner focus World Bank 04 08 Editor: Louise Reynolds Design: ACER Project Publishing Printed by: Camten Graphics Photographic credits Page 4, Eric Hood, iStockphoto Page 7, Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock Page 8 & 9, Noam Armonn, Shutterstock Page 10, Marko5, Shutterstock Page 11, Tracy Whiteside, Shutterstock Page 13, Zurijeta, Shutterstock Page 14, RBFried, iStockphoto Page 16, sjlocke, iStockphoto Page 18 & 19, iofoto, Shutterstock ISSN 1838-6172 ABN 19 004 398 145 Regional focus Latin America 10 Middle East 12 International Schools’ Assessment Program 14 Regional focus Issue focus Medical Testing 16 4 International Developments Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ACER leads an international consortium of research organisations, and educational institutions to deliver the International PISA project on behalf of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Translated into 48 languages and then verified to ensure they can be understood by students from a wide range of language and cultural backgrounds, PISA questions are based on relevant, everyday situations. PISA tests the reading, mathematics and science literacy of 15-year-olds across the world. In 2009 around 400 000 students from 57 countries took part. The OECD established PISA, which is a means of assessing and comparing education systems worldwide, after discovering it had a number of economic measures of its member countries but no measures of educational achievement. By testing the skills and knowledge of 15-yearolds in three core subject areas, PISA determines how capable students are at applying their skills and knowledge to real-life problems and situations, and whether they can analyse, reason and communicate their ideas effectively. By assessing students at the age when they are nearing the end of compulsory schooling, PISA ascertains whether students are prepared for the challenges of life as young adults. in PISA are carefully developed Since 2000, PISA has been conducted every three years. The continuous cycle of PISA allows for longitudinal trends in educational performance to be monitored. cultural, gender or other biases, as The PISA test includes questions on a particular subject area accompanied by stimulus material, which may include text, diagrams or images, and is followed by a questionnaire that asks students about their attitudes and background. This questionnaire seeks to gain information about students’ home and school environment to identify possible influences on school achievement. The questions used considered to be part of the main PISA and selected. Expert groups are consulted, ideas are discussed among participating countries and advice is sought from various boards and groups. Every item included is rated by each country in terms of potential well as the relevance to 15-year-olds’ familiarity and level of interest. The questions are tested in field trials in participating countries before they are study. When PISA is conducted every (...truncated)