Justifying the Inferences Made From the 2012 Mathematics PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment)

• In Event: Roundtable Session 15
  In Roundtable Session: Practical Applications in Validation

Abstract

There have been contradictory interpretations of results on different mathematics international assessments that the U.S. participates in. While there isn’t a concern with their performance on the TIMSS, there is growing apprehension about their rankings on the PISA. It may be futile to argue the difference in ranks between international assessments because each of them are based on different participating nations, samples chosen from those nations, and content assessed, besides having different purposes to begin with. Still, there is a need to find out if inferences made from these assessments are fair. The purpose of this study is to determine whether we can justify the validity of the inferences made from the 2012 mathematics PISA using a lens of fairness.

Author

• Pooja Shivraj, Southern Methodist University