A PISA the Puzzle: Effects of the Establishment of the Programme for International Student Assessment on Education Reform

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Thursday 7:45am
  In Poster Session: Global Metrics, Local Resistance: Education Policy, Technology, and the Politics of Learning

Abstract

How has the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) affected education reform globally? PISA is theorized to shape education reforms of low-performing countries, with narratives showcasing notable cases such as Germany’s response to the PISA 2000 assessment. However, several other countries have received similarly lackluster results without subsequent reform. As the first quantitative study on PISA and reform, we seek to identify broader trends by examining the effect of PISA’s establishment on levels of primary and secondary education reforms. We find that, contrary to the popular narrative, high-performing countries report more reforms over time. Our findings suggest that the broad effect of PISA on reform has been through the legitimation of high-performing systems, rather than the scrutinization of low-performing ones.

Authors

• Marcia Yang, Stanford University

• Sofia Wilson, Stanford University

• Patricia Bromley, Stanford University

• Sean F. Reardon, Stanford University