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Questions about US results in PISA
What do international tests really show about U.S. student performance?: ”Although the U.S. sample included disadvantaged students in appropriate propor- tion to their actual representation in the U.S. 15-year-old population, the U.S. sample included a disproportionate number of disadvantaged students who were enrolled in schools with unusually large concentrations of such students. Because, after controlling for student social class status, students from families with low social class status will perform more poorly in schools with large concentrations of such students, this sampling flaw probably reduced the reported average score of students in the bottom social class groups (perhaps Groups 1-3).”
(Hittat via Pasi Sahlberg.)
I am not a statistician even if I consider myself qualified to discuss a lot of statistician issues. This however I do not understand completely. Martin Carnoy, Stanford Graduate School of Education and EPI
and Richard Rothstein, EPI argues that the conclusions based on US results in international tests like PISA and TIMSS are oversimplified, frequently exaggerated and misleading (anyone thinking the same here regarding Swedish results?).
However, Carnoy and Rothstein have made a detailed analysis of the PISA 2009 database and found that the US results are much better than reported if one would consider the ”sampling error” described in the quote above. Question is however if this argument is valid – I thought PISA is supposed to present a result fot the whole educational system in a country regardless of which schools the students attend. In Carnoy/Rothsteins perspective it is reasonable to take the fact that ”students from families with low social class status will perform more poorly in schools with large concentrations of such students” as a reason to exclude them from the sample or at least not count their results. To me that seems a bit strange, it is like as if we would exclude the results for students att schools in poor performing schools in certain areas with the same argument. Although this is something I would like comments on.
Technorati Tags:
Pasi Sahlberg, PISA, Martin Carnoy, Richard Rothstein, TIMSS
Lider svensk skola av GERM
How GERM is infecting schools around the world? | Pasi Sahlberg Blog: ”Ten years ago — against all odds — Finland was ranked as the world’s top education nation. It was strange because in Finland education is seen as a public good accessible to all free of charge without standardized testing or competitive private schools. When I look around the world, I see competition, choice, and measuring of students and teachers as the main means to improve education. This market-based global movement has put many public schools at risk in the United States and many other countries, as well. But not in Finland.
You may ask what has made Finland’s schools so extraordinary. The answer has taken many by surprise. ”
Sahlbergs artikel är också publicerad i Washington Post
Pasi Sahlberg förklarar varför det finska skolsystemet är framgångsrikt (i internationella mätningar) och hur GERM infekterar andra skolsystem runt om i världen – vilket drabbat inte minst det svenska om man tänker efter.
Vad är GERM
GERM står för Global Educational Reform Movement, något Sahlberg beskriver som en epidemi som like ett virus angriper skolsystem och orsakar att skolor blir sjuka, lärare mår dåligt och barnen lär sig mindre. Det finns några karaktäristiska symptom:
Konkurrens
Det första symptomet är konkurrens mellan skolor. Med det följer inspektioner, mer tester (prov) och utvärdering av lärarnas effektivitet. Sådan konkurrens sker på bekostnad av samarbete mellan skolor.
Skolval
Det andra symptomet är ökade möjligheter att välja skola. Därmed inför man en marknadslik tävlan mellan skolor när de försöker framstå som attraktiva föräldrar. Resultat försämrade resultat i akademiska termer och ökad segregation mellan skolor.
Standardiserade tester
Det tredje symptomet är standardiserade tester, baserat på en tro att ökat fokus på mätningar ger förbättringar. Resultatet blir att undervisningen inriktas på testerna, att läsning och matematik dominerar innehållsligt och att undervisningen reduceras till mekanisk instruktion.
Sahlberg konstaterar att frisk skolsystem had motståndskraft mot GERM. Däremot beskriver han hue get finska skolsystemet hämtat inspiration från andra länder oct exemplifierar med
The United States has been a special source of inspiration to Finland since John Dewey a century ago. Such American educational innovations as cooperative learning, problem-based teaching and portfolio assessment are examples of the practices invented by teachers and researchers in the United States that are now commonly found in many Finnish classrooms.
Känns som om han därmed beskriver delar av den så förhatliga svenska flumskolan. Frågan är hur djupt svensk skolpolitik egentligen drabbats av GERM och om det går att påskynda tillfrisknandet genom lämpliga åtgärder i termer av minskad kontroll, minskad konkurrens och ökad autonomi för skolan. Och vem skriver i så fall ut receptet?
Mer om vad sossar och andra progressiva tycker på Netroots, s-bloggar och Socialdemokraterna.
Technorati Tags:
Education Reform, Flumskolan, Netroots, Politik, s-bloggar, Skola, Socialdemokratiska Arbetarepartiet, Utbildning, Pasi Sahlberg, GERM
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