Education Week - December 11, 2013 - 15

U.S. ACHIEVEMENT ON A GLOBAL SCALE
several experts offered the caveat
that its results are not representative
of China as a whole.
"Shanghai has an economically
and culturally elite population with
systems in place to make sure that
students who may perform poorly
are not allowed into public schools,"
wrote Tom Loveless, a senior fellow
at the Brookings Institution's Brown
Center for Education Policy, in a recent
blog post.
"Comparing U.S. performance to
that of Shanghai isn't apples and
oranges; it's applesauce and Agent
Orange," Frederick M. Hess, the director
of education policy studies at
the American Enterprise Institute,
wrote last week on an opinion blog
published by Education Week.
Twelve provinces in China took
the 2012 PISA, the OECD confirmed,
but only results from Shanghai,
Hong Kong, and Macao were publicly
released.
Mr. Loveless was especially critical
of that action, and suggested
in an interview that the OECD "cut
a special deal" with the Chinese
government, allowing for "cherrypicked"
results. In 2011, a Chinese
website leaked the average PISA
scores from 2009 for all 12 participating
provinces. According to those
results, China scored measurably
above the United States in math
and science, but significantly below
the U.S. average in reading.
Mr. Buckley of the NCES said that
juxtaposing results in Shanghai and
Massachusetts-a top-performing
U.S. state by most measures-is "a
better comparison than Shanghai to
the U.S." In all three subjects tested,
Massachusetts' scores fell far behind
those of the Chinese city.
"The Shanghai results suggest
that even better things are possible
for Massachusetts," said Mr. Chester,
the state's education commissioner.
The OECD report also delves into
the relationship between socioeconomic
factors and student performance.
In the United States, the
report finds, the strength of the
correlation is comparable with the
average for OECD nations. However,
socioeconomic status is less closely
correlated to performance in other
countries, including Hong Kong,
Korea, Estonia, and Japan. At the
Washington PISA event, Secretary
Duncan said that "achievement
gaps are painfully evident" in the
U.S. results but that "our diversity
fails to explain why the U.S. lags behind
our peers."
Making Causal Inferences
In a 550-page addendum report,
"What Makes Schools Successful?"
released with the PISA results,
the OECD provides analyses of the
trends seen in PISA and guidance
for policymakers. At the live event
last week, Gurriá encouraged the
United States to "find ways to allocate
the most talented teachers
and school leaders to the most challenging
schools and classrooms." He
also praised the Race to the Top initiative,
a signature program of the
Obama administration, and said
that "the strict implementation of
the Common Core State Standards
for mathematics would undoubtedly
improve PISA results."
During an hourlong presentation
Twenty-nine nations and education systems outperformed U.S. 15-year-olds in
math, new test data show, while 19 had measurably higher scores in reading.
nAbove U.S. average nNot statistically different from U.S. nBelow U.S. average nOECD average nU.S. and States
MATH PISA
READING PISA
Shanghai-China
Singapore
Hong Kong-China
Taiwan
Korea
Macao-China
Japan
Liechtenstein
Switzerland
Netherlands
Estonia
Finland
Canada
Poland
Belgium
Germany
Massachusetts
Vietnam
Austria
Connecticut
Australia
Ireland
Slovenia
Denmark
New Zealand
Czech Republic
France
OECD average
United Kingdom
Iceland
Latvia
Luxembourg
Norway
Portugal
Italy
Spain
Russian Federation
Slovak Republic
United States
Lithuania
Sweden
Hungary
Croatia
Florida
Israel
Greece
Serbia
Turkey
Romania
Cyprus
Bulgaria
United Arab Emirates
Kazakhstan
Thailand
Chile
Malaysia
Mexico
Montenegro
Uruguay
Costa Rica
Albania
Brazil
Argentina
Tunisia
Jordan
Colombia
Qatar
Indonesia
Peru
the same day, Andreas Schleicher,
the OECD's deputy director for education
and skills, said that the highestperforming
countries "place a great
value on education," have "universal
education standards," and use "a
high degree of personalization as an
approach to address diversity."
Meanwhile, Randi Weingarten,
the president of the American Federation
of Teachers, said in a state-
613
573
561
560
554
538
536
535
531
523
521
519
518
518
515
514
514
511
506
506
504
501
501
500
500
499
495
494
494
493
491
490
489
487
485
484
482
482
481
479
478
477
471
467
466
453
449
448
445
440
439
434
432
427
423
421
413
410
409
407
394
391
388
388
386
376
376
375
368
ment last week that the PISA results
provide evidence that "a decade of
top-down, test-based schooling created
by No Child Left Behind and
Race to the Top-focused on hypertesting
students, sanctioning teachers,
and closing schools-has failed
to improve the quality of American
public education."
She said top-tier countries do
not have "a fixation on testing like
Shanghai-China
Hong Kong-China
Singapore
Japan
Korea
Massachusetts
Finland
Ireland
Taiwan
Canada
Connecticut
Poland
Estonia
Liechtenstein
New Zealand
Australia
Netherlands
Belgium
Switzerland
Macao-China
Vietnam
Germany
France
Norway
United Kingdom
United States
OECD average
Denmark
Czech Republic
Florida
Italy
Austria
Latvia
Hungary
Spain
Luxembourg
Portugal
Israel
Croatia
Sweden
Iceland
Slovenia
Lithuania
Greece
Turkey
Russian Federation
Slovak Republic
Cyprus
Serbia
United Arab Emirates
Chile
Thailand
Costa Rica
Romania
Bulgaria
Mexico
Montenegro
Uruguay
Brazil
Tunisia
Colombia
Jordan
Malaysia
Indonesia
Argentina
Albania
Kazakhstan
Qatar
Peru
the United States does."
However, some education experts
say policymakers and the public
should be wary of drawing policy conclusions
based on PISA scores.
"These kinds of studies are really
good at describing where we stand
and maybe looking at trends,"
said Mr. Buckley from the NCES.
"They're not good at all at telling
us why. The study design is not one
449
446
442
441
441
441
438
436
424
422
411
410
404
403
399
398
396
396
394
393
388
384
SOURCE: National Center
for Education Statistics
that supports causal inference."
"There's a tendency to go beyond
the data," said Mr. Schneider. "For
me this is a serious problem."
Scan this tag with your
smartphone for a link to "PISA
2012 Results in Focus: What
15-Year-Olds Know and What
They Can Do With What They Know."
www.edweek.org/links
EDUCATION WEEK | December 11, 2013 | www.edweek.org | 15
570
545
542
538
536
527
524
523
523
523
521
518
516
516
512
512
511
509
509
509
508
508
505
504
499
498
496
496
493
492
490
490
489
488
488
488
488
486
485
483
483
481
477
477
475
475
463

http://www.edweek.org/links http://www.edweek.org

Education Week - December 11, 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Education Week - December 11, 2013