The Effects of PISA on National Education Policy Reforms, 2020
This research essay provides an overview of the Programme for International Student Assessment (P... more This research essay provides an overview of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), one of a number of International Large-scale Assessments (ILSA), linked to global educational reform. PISA was explored through the lens of validity theory (Messick, 1989; Kane, 2013) which provided a framework for evaluating the validity of the inferences drawn from the assessment, its usefulness, and its impact on national education policy reforms. My research questions were: 1- What role does PISA play in reinforcing the globalization of education and implanting knowledge economy (KE) discourse in national curriculums’ policies? 2- What evidence is there of the validity of the inferences drawn from PISA scores, based on the application of the Interpretation/Use Argument (IUA) (Kane, 2013)? 3- What are the effects of using PISA as an influential source for education reforms? To answer these questions, I examined the literature regarding globalization and capitalism (Dale, 2005, Rowe, 2019; Ball 2012), and the set of characteristics associated with a globalized education reform. I then aligned these characteristics with the constructs that PISA measures to demonstrate how PISA’s promotion of these characteristics had both positive and negative (unintended) consequences (Messick, 1989). Drawing on the literature, I conclude that PISA developers have largely failed in acknowledging its negative consequences – both actual and potential – and suggest strategies for using the data offered by PISA and avoiding potential adverse impact.
The Effects of PISA on National Education Policy Reforms, 2020
This research essay provides an overview of the Programme for International Student Assessment (P... more This research essay provides an overview of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), one of a number of International Large-scale Assessments (ILSA), linked to global educational reform. PISA was explored through the lens of validity theory (Messick, 1989; Kane, 2013) which provided a framework for evaluating the validity of the inferences drawn from the assessment, its usefulness, and its impact on national education policy reforms. My research questions were: 1- What role does PISA play in reinforcing the globalization of education and implanting knowledge economy (KE) discourse in national curriculums’ policies? 2- What evidence is there of the validity of the inferences drawn from PISA scores, based on the application of the Interpretation/Use Argument (IUA) (Kane, 2013)? 3- What are the effects of using PISA as an influential source for education reforms? To answer these questions, I examined the literature regarding globalization and capitalism (Dale, 2005, Rowe, 2019; Ball 2012), and the set of characteristics associated with a globalized education reform. I then aligned these characteristics with the constructs that PISA measures to demonstrate how PISA’s promotion of these characteristics had both positive and negative (unintended) consequences (Messick, 1989). Drawing on the literature, I conclude that PISA developers have largely failed in acknowledging its negative consequences – both actual and potential – and suggest strategies for using the data offered by PISA and avoiding potential adverse impact.
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