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Posts Tagged ‘science’

PISAful Thinking – Giving Context to the 2023 Numbers

Posted in Assessment, tagged , , , , on December 12, 2023| 3 Comments »

If you have a narrative you want to tell about education, locally or globally, PISA results can probably help confirm it. And for the most part, we do like bad news, so if you like to describe what is happening in education as “concerning” or “worrisome” or gravitate to ideas like “declining” or “falling” there was probably something for you in the latest wave of PISA results. Of course, if you want to see Canada, and more specifically British Columbia, as one of the world’s highest performing jurisdictions this evidence is also present.

PISA 2022 – Canada Fact Sheet (shows Canada in global context)

Canadian Results (showing results for each province)

First, let’s talk about what PISA results are.  For those in education, they are a bit like the Education Olympics.  They are a tool for comparing jurisdictions around the world.  PISA is the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment, that measure 15-year-olds’ ability to use their reading, mathematics and science knowledge and skills.  If you remember 10-15 years ago when everyone was going to Finland to learn what they were doing in education, this attention started from very strong PISA results.  

And, like the Olympics, they are controversial.  Criticisms include concerns about the narrow focus on certain skills, potential cultural biases, and the complex nature of education systems, which may not be fully captured by standardized assessments.   My doctoral advisor,  Yong Zaho is one the loudest critics. He wrote,  “PISA is a masterful magician. It has successfully created an illusion of education quality and marketed it to the world.”

It does seem as though PISA results have got less attention this year than in previous waves – maybe that is a statement on fewer journalists covering education, or other global events dominating the news, or maybe the criticisms have some shying away from covering the results.

I have written here several times around the results.

In 2009 – Our World Cup (on reflection, I was much more excited about them than I am today)

In 2013 –  Some PISA Thinking (which looked at BC’s results of that time)

In 2016 –It is OK to be Happy About PISA (some celebrating our strong achievements)

I do think they have value – because at a time when it is important to have conversations around learning topics like numeracy and literacy there is little media attention around them.  PISA brings these discussions to the provincial, national and even global levels.  And while most are looking to tell a story about how we are just not as good as we used to be – so it must be the kids or the teachers, beyond this simplistic silliness there are good conversations worth having.  And beyond the front page “Who is winning” comparisons, the survey breaks out data on topics that many are curious about, like the various impacts of COVID on learning, and the impact that home language  or gender can have on results in jurisdictions.   Some of the conversations that PISA can open up include:

  • The need for quality discussions around the use of data – at schools, in the community and with politicians
  • Areas of strength and weaknesses in schools and districts.  When PISA says X about science in your country, what do we know about science at our school or district – do PISA results surprise us?  Do they confirm what we know?
  • What do PISA and our local information tell us about equity?  As you get into PISA there is a lot of information like the gap between the highest and lowest performing students – the smaller the gap, likely the more equitable, at least on this measure.
  • Education as a global topic.  The assessing of students around the world is a reminder that our students are part of a global community – they will be competing in the workplace not just with those in their school or neigbourhood but much further afield.
  • A discussion about what matters.  So, PISA says something about reading, math and science – what else do we value in our system and what other evidence can we use to better understand how we are doing?
  • What can we learn from others?  Are there particular jurisdictions having success that stand out? (I would like to know what Utah is doing with math instruction as they outperform Finland in PISA). Like the Finland impact of the early part of the century, there may be something we can learn.  Even within Canada, this can be useful.  We need to see places like Alberta and Quebec as our partners not our competitors in BC.

As with any test results, PISA results are quickly politicized – so everyone spins the results. Often current governments will say the results prove everything is going well, those looking to be the next government will use the same data to say the opposite. 

It was in my last post I wrote about the power of networking in British Columbia and how education is not just a competition.  I see that PISA does open some of the wrong conversations around this battle between jurisdictions, but I do also think that any attention can be good attention – so let’s take this energy and focus and have real conversations about equity and excellence with numeracy, reading and science – not just for a single jurisdiction but for all learners everywhere.  

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Our Story Told in One Slide

Posted in Change, Personalized Learning, Professional Development, tagged , , , , , , , on March 27, 2017| 1 Comment »

Speaking recently in Edmonton, to Superintendents from across Alberta, I shared a slide from Pasi Sahlberg that he used this past December at the Learning Forward Conference in Vancouver:

This slide tells an incredibly powerful and important story – it speaks to our values in education in British Columbia and Canada, and to our aspirations for students.

I have written a number of times in the past about PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results, most recently this past December – It is OK to Be Happy About PISA.   And I always do so with the “it is only one test” caveat, but that said, it is still a widely regarded international benchmark on some key education outcomes.

So, just why is this one slide so important?  It takes the 2015 results and plots jurisdiction based on their achievement in math, reading and science along the Y-axis and based on equity (the weakness of the relationship between family background and achievement) along the X-axis.  So those jurisdictions in the top right of the graph are those with the highest levels of excellence and equity.

The jurisdictions in this sweet-spot that Sahlberg referred to as the “Highway to Heaven”  include a cluster of Canadian provinces – BC, Alberta, Ontario and Quebec as well as Canada as a whole, along with just a couple other nations.  (Note:  Since education is under provincial not federal jurisdiction in Canada, individual provinces show up separately for PISA).

Strong equity and high quality – this is the story of our schools.  And this speaks directly to our values in our education system. Of course this does not negate the work we need to do – there are a lot of areas to focus, including the success of our Aboriginal learners.  In West Vancouver, we often look at how large the differences are between schools on any given measure – and see the lack of differences as just as much a mark of success as the high achievement.  We want these ideals to run in tandem.

So, if I could just share one slide about “how we are doing” and “who do we want to continue to be” going forward, it would be this one.

And finally, coming back to a notion I have shared before, and shared with our colleagues from Alberta, instead of always looking around the world, we should be looking across the country – the Canadian education story is a good story and one we should tell, and work together to strengthen.

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It is OK to Be Happy About PISA

Posted in Assessment, Change, tagged , , , , , on December 6, 2016| 7 Comments »

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As I read the media reports of the 2015 PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) results I could almost feel the media’s disappointment.  Of the 72 countries and jurisdictions around the world participating, students in British Columbia were the highest performing in reading, 2nd highest in science and 6th in math.  The results are outstanding.  And this is no small test – over 500,000 15-year-old students participated around the world including more than 20,000 in Canada.  Of course, good news just doesn’t make “news” like bad news.  There are far more people who seem to enjoy a “Students Struggle with Reading” headline, rather than a “Local Students Top Readers in the World” headline. (See full Canadian results here).

I dedicate dozens of posts each year on this blog to talking about the need to do things differently.  And results like those from PISA do not change the need or urgency.  They do remind us in British Columbia (and all across Canada) we are improving from a place of strength.  We have an exemplary education system that is not satisfied with the status quo and we want to be sure that as the world continues to change, our curriculum, assessment and programs continue to adapt to ensure our relevance.

I have written about PISA two times before (when both the 2009 and 2012 results were released – and I still hold to these commentaries).  Beyond the high-level numbers the power of PISA is that there is a lot of data that helps tell a more complete story.  I find the most useful information are deeper in the report below the silly “who won” conversation.  From first look, one sees that there is a very small gender gap in science in Canada, for example, and overall the level of equity (the difference between the highest and lowest scores) is better (more equitable) in Canada than elsewhere.  As I said in my comments three years ago, when asked about PISA – “It is what it is”.  It is one part of the education story, but when governments invest billions of dollars into education, it is a powerful tool to help see we are doing some things right.

I am also left thinking about Finland today.  Like many others, I have visited Finland to learn about what they have done to develop such a strong education system.  And just what first attracted me to Finland?  Well, it was their PISA scores.  The same PISA scores that today indicate the world has a lot to learn from Canada and British Columbia. The same PISA scores that remind me that we can learn a lot in British Columbia from colleagues in Alberta, Ontario, Quebec and truly across the country.  The same PISA scores that remind me as Superintendent in West Vancouver, there is a lot we can learn from Surrey, Victoria and Bulkley Valley.

Of course we have many areas in British Columbia we can improve – it is forever the nature of education.  We need to continue to work to improve our Aboriginal graduation rates, and support all learners in our classrooms.  There is a danger that a report like this can suggest we tick the education box in our society and stop investing – we need to do the opposite and continue to invest in public education in British Columbia so we grow from this position of strength.  And yes, PISA is just one measure – we know there are so many factors beyond tests like these that we need to track to ensure our students are strong academic performers and capable citizens (and yes, there are many thoughtful critics of PISA).

But let’s leave the other conversations for another day – today is a day to recognize the system we have – and it is damn good!  All of us who have children in BC’s schools, and all of us who work in BC schools should be very proud.

OK, that is more self-congratulating than most of us Canadians are used to – let’s get back to work!

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Our World Cup – PISA 2009

Posted in Assessment, Change, tagged , , , , , , , , , on December 7, 2010| 17 Comments »

Today marks the release of the PISA 2009 assessment results.  And just what is PISA:

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an internationally standardised assessment that was jointly developed by participating economies and administered to 15-year-olds in schools.

Tests are typically administered to between 4,500 and 10,000 students in each country.

And just what does PISA look at?

PISA assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. In all cycles, the domains of reading, mathematical and scientific literacy are covered not merely in terms of mastery of the school curriculum, but in terms of important knowledge and skills needed in adult life.

PISA, has absolutely become the World Cup of education excellence.  Over the last three years I have spoken to, hosted, and toured groups from around the world who specifically came to British Columbia to understand our high results.  Of course, the interest in Finland can also be traced directly to these assessments.  Finland has become education’s equivalent of soccer’s Brazil.

On the previously released results, Canada, and in particular Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec, have performed among the very top performing jurisdictions in the world alongside Finland, Hong Kong and Korea (here is a summary of 2006 results).  Since education is under provincial jurisdiction in Canada, our results are further  broken out by province, while other jurisdictions are typically by country.  The PISA results are the often used antidote against those who question the quality of education in British Columbia and Canada.  We have a system looking to improve, but we are improving from a place of strength, and envy from around the world.

Today is announcement day.  There is a lot to dig into beyond the headlines, but my quick read indicates:

  • Korea and Finland are the top performing OECD countries, but Shanghai-China (a first time participant) outperforms them by a significant margin
  • Girls outperform boys in reading in every participating country
  • Canadian students continue to be near the top of OECD countries
  • British Columbia students perform above Canadian averages
  • Since 2000, British Columbia results have improved in science and declined in math and reading

From the OECD Press Release this morning, here are a few more key items they highlight:

• The best school systems were the most equitable — students do well regardless of their socio-economic background. However, schools that select students based on ability, show the greatest differences in performance by socio-economic background.
• High-performing school systems tend to prioritize teacher pay over smaller class sizes.
• Countries where students repeat grades more often tend to have worse results overall, with the widest gaps between children from poor and better-off families. Making students repeat years is most common in Belgium, France, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain.
• High-performing systems allow schools to design curricula and establish assessment policies, but don’t necessarily allow competition for students.
• Schools with good discipline and better student-teacher relations, achieve better reading results.
• Public and private schools achieve similar results, after taking account of their home backgrounds.
• Combining local autonomy and effective accountability seems to produce the best results.
• The percentage of students who said they read for pleasure dropped from 69% in 2000, to 64% in 2009.

There is much more to dissect, and there is a lot of excellent data produced going deeper into the rankings, which will garner much of the attention.  PISA 2009 results are available here and the Executive Summary (a very good read) is available here.  Ontario has also released a summary of its results including a series of tables listing all Canadian provinces available here.

As the results are further examined, there is a lot to consider when looking at jurisdictions that have undergone major reform initiatives, and how this has translated into results.  A quick read indicates Ontario will likely be getting a lot of attention for its efforts in coming days.

Update: This link (here) is a summary of the results from Stats Canada.

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