in the dark all schools and education systems look the same… but with a little light…

1111 In the dark all schools and education systems look the same…

But with a little light….

2222

But with a little light….

…important differences become apparent….

3333 Average performanceof 15-year-olds in mathematics

Low average performance

Large socio-economic disparities

High average performance



High social equity


High social equity

Strong socio-economic impact

on student performance

Socially equitable distribution of

learning opportunities

High mathematics performance

Low mathematics performanceGreece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Macao- China Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

I celand Czech Republic

SwedenFranceDenmark

I reland GermanyAustria

Slovak Republic

LuxembourgPoland Hungary

Norway

SpainUnited StatesLatvia

PortugalI taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

4444 Durchschnittliche Schülerleistungen im Bereich Mathematik






High social equity


High social equity







Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia

I celandCzech Republic

SwedenFrance

Denmark

I relandGermanyAustria

Slovak Republic

LuxembourgPolandHungary

Norway

SpainUnited States Latvia

Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

5555

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

Tur

key

Hun

gary

Jap

an

Bel

gium

Ital

y

Ger

man

y

Aus

tria

Net

herl

ands

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Kor

ea

Slo

vak

Rep

ublic

Gre

ece

Swit

zerl

and

Luxe

mbou

rg

Port

ugal

Mex

ico

Uni

ted

Sta

tes

Aus

tral

ia

New

Zea

land

Spa

in

Can

ada

Irel

and

Den

mar

k

Pola

nd

Swed

en

Nor

way

Fin

land

Icel

and

Coherence in performance standards

OECD (2004), Learning for tomorrow’s world: First results from PISA 2003, Table 4.1a, p.383.

6666

- 80

- 60

- 40

- 20

0

20

40

60

80

100Tur

key

Hun

gary

Jap

an

Bel

gium

Ital

y

Ger

man

y

Aus

tria

Net

her

land

s

Cze

ch R

epub

lic

Kor

ea

Slo

vak

Rep

ublic

Gre

ece

Swit

zerl

and

Luxem

bou

rg

Port

ugal

Mex

ico

Uni

ted S

tate

s

Aus

tral

ia

New

Zea

land

Spa

in

Can

ada

Irel

and

Den

mar

k

Pola

nd

Swed

en

Nor

way

Fin

land

Icel

and

Variation of performance

between schools

Variation of performance within

schools

Coherence in performance standards

OECD (2004), Learning for tomorrow’s world: First results from PISA 2003, Table 4.1a, p.383.

11

114

125

10101010

350

400

450

500

550

600

0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000 90,000 100,000

Money matters but other things do too

Mexico

Greece

PortugalItaly

Spain

GermanyAustria

Ireland

United States

Norway

Korea

Czech Republic

Slovak republicPoland

Hungary

Finland

NetherlandsCanada Switzerland

IcelandDenmark

FranceSweden

BelgiumAustralia

Japan

R2 = 0.28

Cumulative expenditure (US$)

Perf

orm

an

ce in

math

em

ati

cs

11111111 Sympathy doesn’t raise standards – aspiration does

In the high performing countries studied… National research teams report a strong

“culture of performance”– Which drives students, parents, teachers and the

educational administration to high performance standards

PISA suggests… …that students and schools perform better in a climate

characterised by high expectations and the readiness to invest effort, the enjoyment of learning, a strong disciplinary climate, and good teacher-student relations

– Among these aspects, students’ perception of teacher-student relations and classroom disciplinary climate display the strongest relationships

12121212High ambitions

and clear standards

Access to best practice and quality

professional development

13131313 Challenge and support

Weak support

Strong support

Lowchallenge

Highchallenge

Strong performance

Systemic improvement

Poor performance

Improvements idiosyncratic

Conflict

Demoralisation

Poor performance

Stagnation

14141414High ambitions



Accountability and intervention in inverse proportion

to success

Devolved responsibility,

the school as the centre of action

15151515 Governance of the school system In the high performing countries studied

School-based decision-making is combined with devices to ensure a fair distribution of substantive educational opportunities

The provision of standards and curricula at national/subnational levels is combined with advanced evaluation and support systems

– That are implemented by professional agencies Process-oriented assessments and/or

centralised final examinations are complimented with individual reports and feed-back mechanisms on student learning progress

Standard setting and equity-related goals Key objectives:

– Raise educational aspirations, establish transparency over educational objectives, reference framework for teachers

Approaches range from definition of broad educational goals up to formulation of concise performance expectations

Some countries go beyond establishing educational standards as mere yardsticks and use performance benchmarks that students at particular age or grade levels should reach

Instruments– Minimum standards, targets defining excellence,

normative performance benchmarks

Monitoring and equity-related goals Diverging views how evaluation and assessment can

and should be used– Some see them primarily as tools to reveal best practices

and identify shared problems in order to encourage teachers and schools to improve and develop more supportive and productive learning environments

– Others extend their purpose to support contestability of public services or market-mechanisms in the allocation of resources

– e.g. by making comparative results of schools publicly available to facilitate parental choice or by having funds following students

Differences in type of performance benchmarks being used and reported for the various stakeholders involved, including parents, teachers and schools







High social equity


High social equity







Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia


SwedenFrance

Denmark


Slovak Republic


Norway


Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626







Low mathematics performance

School with responsibility for deciding which courses are offered

High degree of autonomy

Low degree of autonomy Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia


SwedenFrance

Denmark


Slovak Republic


Norway


Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626







Low mathematics performance

Early selection and institutional differentiation

High degree of stratification

Low degree of stratification Greece

Russian Federation

Liechtenstein

Korea

Hong Kong- China

Finland

Netherlands

Canada

Switzerland

New Zealand

Belgium

J apan

Australia


SwedenFrance

Denmark


Slovak Republic


Norway


Portugal I taly

440

460

480

500

520

540

61626

19191919Strong ambitions



Accountability

Devolvedresponsibility,


Individualisedlearning

Integrated educational opportunities

20202020 Organisation of instruction In the high-performing countries studied

Schools and teachers have explicit strategies and approaches for teaching heterogeneous groups of learners

– A high degree of individualised learning processes– Disparities related to socio-economic factors and

migration are recognised as major challenges Students are offered a variety of extra-curricular

activities Schools offer differentiated support structures for

students– E.g. school psychologists or career counsellors

Institutional differentiation is introduced, if at all, at later stages

– Integrated approaches also contributed to reducing the impact of students socio-economic background on outcomes

21212121 Support systems and professional teacher development

In the high performing countries studied Effective support systems are located at

individual school level or in specialised support institutions

Teacher training schemes are selective The training of pre-school personnel is closely

integrated with the professional development of teachers

Continuing professional development is a constitutive part of the system

Special attention is paid to the professional development of school management personnel

22222222Strong ambitions



Accountabilityand intervention in inverse proportion

to success

Individualisedlearning

Devolved responsibility,


Integrated educational opportunities

23232323 Further information

www.pisa.oecd.org– All national and international publications– The complete micro-level database

email: [email protected]

[email protected]

…and remember:

Without data, you are just another person with an opinion

24242424

OECD countries participating from PISA 2000

OECD countries participating from PISA from 2003

OECD partner countries participating from PISA 2000



PISA country participation

in the dark all schools and education systems look the same… but with a little light…

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