In the past I have discredited international exams with the same reasons (or perhaps what Baybee would call excuses):
-”other countries only test their brightest”

-”other countries do not include special students”

-”other countries do not have second language learners”

-”other countries teach to the test” are ill informed and wrong” (2007).

Here is why I was wrong…

Photo by peruisay.

Bracey argues similar points in “Big Tests: What Ends Do They Serve?” (Bracey, 2009).  Baybee’s does not address each of these statements, but attempts (quite well) to debunk these statements with the following blanket statement “the international teams of professionals working on PISA and TIMSS are highly qualified and use sophisticated methods to assure the integrity of the actual survey and ensure the statistical results” (2007).

When looking at the results of international assessments, I tend to take a view more similar to Koretz:  “International comparisons of student achievement are valuable, but they cannot provide a clear evaluation of the performance of American high schools” (2009).  I do not deny that International assessments  show evidence that changes can (and need to) be made in science instruction.  Essentially, as stated by Koretz, these tests can help “provide us with numerous hypotheses about factors that may impede performance or that may be useful in improving it… [but] the international comparisons now available do not provide us with a straightforward evaluation of either U.S. secondary’ schools or the policies that govern them” (2009).  Although the media tries to portray comparisons of U.S students to students in other countries as clear cut, it is a complicated issue.  International assessments are simply one piece of data we should use in conjunction with other available information to help us make the most rounded and informed decisions possible for our students – and these decisions can often vary from classroom to classroom,  school to school, and state to state.

References

Baybee, R. (2007). Science Teaching and International Assessments. Science Teacher, 74(8), 41-48. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Bracey, G. (2009). Big Tests: What Ends Do They Serve?. Educational Leadership,

67(3), 32-37. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.

Koretz, D. (2009). How Do American Students Measure Up? Making Sense of

International Comparisons. Future of Children, 19(1), 37-51. Retrieved from Education Research Complete database.