Description
Book SynopsisEvery three years the world awaits the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, the rankings of school systems overseen by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Nations around the world look eagerly and apprehensively to see where their students rank on these tests of competence in, mainly, science, math and reading. This book provides a window into PISA and its power. What exactly is PISA? How are its tests developed? Who takes the test? What countries tend to outperform and which underperform? What do countries learn from PISA? Why is PISA both revered and feared? And, most importantly, does PISA improve education globally?The first PISA, in 2000, included 32 countries. In 2018, nearly eighty nations took part in PISA. That number is expected to double by 2030. This may mean that students in over 80% of the world's countries will take the PISA exams. This scenario has made PISA more important than ever. This book probes topic
Trade ReviewJoseph M. Piro provides an informative account of the most important global education testing regime of our times: The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). His book is a must-read for anyone interested in education policy and politics as it copes brilliantly with keeping the balance between being a compendium and a critique at the same time. It explores why we strive for comparisons, how the OECD has become the epicenter of education, what PISA means for different countries – including the US – and many more fascinating issues. Take a look inside! -- Kerstin Martens, Professor for International Relations, University of Bremen, Germany
Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1: PISA and the Global Citizen Chapter 2: The Staying Power of International Comparisons: Why We Feel the Need to Compare Chapter 3: PISA through the Prism of the OECD Chapter 4: The Making and Taking of PISA Chapter 5: PISA and Global Best Practices: How PISA Tells Us “What Works” Chapter 6: “Horizon Scanning:” The Promise and Perils of Borrowing Best Practices Chapter 7: PISA, Brain Matter, and Other Matters Chapter 8: The Place of PISA in a Diversifying, Digitizing, and Innovating World Bibliography List of Websites Index About the Author
