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I remember when I was studying my Bachelor of Arts I would often start a deep dive into new and unfamiliar subjects with one of Oxford’s A Very Short Introduction books. Short texts, they are often designed to provide a start to much more complicated topics. They offer a foundation for further investigation. This is what is provided by Sam Sellar, Greg Thompson and David Rutkowski in their book, The Global Education Race, Taking the Measure of PISA and International Testing.
Designed to generate a wider conversation around OECD’s , The Global Education Race is about a better tomorrow. Neither an anti-testing manifesto, nor a champion of standardised testing as a solution to all of education’s perceived failure, the authors argue for a critical engagement with testing that aims to:

 (1) help improve the quality of data generated about education systems and
(2) support the use of data in valid ways that may improve educational outcomes for all students.

The book covers the media myth making machine, how rankings work, the way the test is administered, the problems with causation and correlation, the idea of validating claims and the politics of science and data.

The Global Education Race is a book every educator should read. In a time when education funding and support is so hotly debated, the book helps build the capacity for the wider public to engage in one of the most popular data sets used when developing policy. For unless we appreciate the context and intent associated with PISA, we risk being sucked in by the hype and headlines … Or better yet, an invalidated edu-holiday.

David Rutkowski has also been interviewed on the TER Podcast, providing a useful starting point.

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REVIEW: The Global Education Race by Aaron Davis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

11 thoughts on “REVIEW: The Global Education Race”

  1. Fiona Longmuir, Jane Wilkinson and Amanda Heffernan reflect upon NAPLAN in light of the changes associated with the current crisis. With so much focus on wellbeing, they question why we persist with the same model, especially when other such tests are sample based. This is elaborated on within such books as The Global Education Race and National Testing in Schools. In response, they provide six ways to reimagine NAPLAN:

    Shifting NAPLAN to be a sample assessment, rather than assessing entire student cohorts. This would enable monitoring of system trends over time, and was suggested by the federal review as a possible solution to address some of the negative consequences of NAPLAN.
    Valuing a rich repertoire of assessments with teachers’ professional judgements being the basis of reporting to parents and students. Sample assessments such as NAPLAN that monitor the education system can be included, but should be “used only by schools and teachers as one piece of evidence contributing to reports to parents/carers, students and local education authorities”. (2020 federal review of NAPLAN, p10).
    The removal of the My School website. Its detrimental impacts that allow league tables of schools to be assembled has perverted and distorted the fundamental purpose of our education systems.
    Fair funding. Among OECD nations, Australia has a highly inequitable system of public education funding. A fairer system of funding that provides the resources and support that all students need to maximise their potential would improve achievement and social outcomes for every community across the country.
    Trust teachers and school leaders. NAPLAN and the associated focus on narrow measures of achievement have resulted in reduced trust in the professionalism and quality of our educators. Believing in their abilities and trusting in their expertise to know their students would lift the learning of all students in the best ways for them, not just for their test scores.
    Listen to students. With disengagement and mental ill-health at concerning levels, we need to put more time and resources into understanding the experiences of students in our schools.

    https://lens.monash.edu/@education/2021/05/10/1383196/learning-from-disruption-why-we-should-rethink-the-place-of-naplan-in-our-schools

    It is interesting to think about this alongside Peter DeWitt’s discussion of de-implementation. Although I assume DeWitt is talking about focusing at a local level, I wonder if the real challenge in regards to de-implementation is actually at a systems level?

    Reply

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