Improving both quality and equity Hong Kong, 21 November 2003 Andreas Schleicher Head, Indicators and Analysis Division OECD OECD Programme for International

11

Improving both quality and equity

Hong Kong, 21 November 2003Andreas Schleicher

Head, Indicators and Analysis DivisionOECD

OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

Insights from PISA

22 Improving both quality and equity

1.1. Why we need to worry The significance of educational

outcomes for individuals and societies2.2. Where we are today

What PISA shows about student performance and the social distribution of learning opportunities in OECD countries

3.3. Where we can be What the best performing countries show

can be achieved

4.4. How we can get there Levers for policy that emerge from

international comparisons

33

The significance of educational outcomes.

Changing contexts for education systems.

44 Changing contexts for education

Knowledge workers the only fast growing share of the workforce By 2002 - about the time when school

reforms put in place today will begin to show effects in labour markets...

...Manufacturing output in OECD area is likely to double…

…Manufacturing employment is likely to shrink to 10% of the workforce

Knowledge as the key economic and social resource

– and the only scarce one

55Traditional jobs are changing

too…Literacy skills in the manufacturing sector

170 210 255 470 663 710 990 1175 1253 12131727

4526

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2000

4000

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1933 1951 1966 1983 1998Sou

rce :

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Sp

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Total number of pages of repair manuals for Opel

cars

from 1933 to 1998

66 Unique opportunities Unlimited upward mobility…

Knowledge changes rapidly Everybody starts from ignorance

– Knowledge differs from traditional means of production in that it cannot be inherited or bequeathed

Knowledge is “public”– Knowledge has to be put in a form in which it can

be taught and is therefore universally accessible Every impediment to mobility…

…is perceived as a form of discrimination

… if our education systems deliver on their promises

77

0

10

20

30

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70

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100U

nite

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ingd

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ico

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esia

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land

55-64 45-54 35-44 25-34

Rise in baseline qualifications over one generation

Proportion of the population with completed upper secondary education by age group (37 countries)

10

14

4

11

1

24

31

26

37

34

9

1

Data for Hong Kong unavailable

88

Where we are today.

What PISA shows about student performance and the social distribution of learning opportunities in OECD countries.

99PISA - The OECD Programme for

International Student Assessment

A regular assessment of the yield of education (2000, 2003, 2006, 2009,…)

including and beyond the curriculum Comparable skill measures

that can guide policy decisions Insights into the mix of factors which

contribute to the development of knowledge and skills

and how these factors operate similarly or differently across countries

A strong substantive and cross-culturalcore for defining performance targets

1010PISA - The OECD Programme for

International Student Assessment

The most comprehensive international assessment to date

Geographic and economic coverage– 340,000 students randomly sampled– All 30 OECD countries plus a growing number of

non-OECD countries Subject matter coverage

– Reading, Mathematics, Science– Cross-curricular competencies

Variety of task formats Depths

– A total of 7 hours of assessment material

1111Three broad categories of

key competenciesUsing “tools”

interactively to engage with the

world

Acting autonomously

Interacting in diverse groups

e.g.

Using language, symbols and texts

Interacting with informationCapitalising on the potential

of technologies

e.g.

Relating well to othersCo-operating, working in

teamsManaging and resolving

conflicts

e.g.

Acting within the bigger picture

Forming and conducting life plans

Taking responsibility and understanding rights and

limits

To analyse, compare, contrast, and evaluate

To think imaginatively

To apply knowledge in real-life situations

To communicate thoughts and ideas effectively

PISA 2000: A new concept of literacyAccessing, managing, integrating

and evaluating written information in order to develop ones knowledge and potential,

and to participate in, and contribute to, society

1212Using “tools”


world

Acting autonomously


e.g.



of technologies

e.g.



conflicts

e.g.




limits





Reading literacy

Using, interpreting and reflecting on written material



world

Acting autonomously


e.g.



of technologies

e.g.



conflicts

e.g.




limits





Mathematical literacyEmphasis is on mathematical knowledge put into functional use in a multitude of different

situations in varied, reflective and insight-based ways



world

Acting autonomously


e.g.



of technologies

e.g.



conflicts

e.g.




limits





Scientific literacyUsing scientific knowledge, identifying scientific

questions, and drawing evidence-based conclusions to understand and make decisions about the natural

world



world

Acting autonomously


Under development:PISA assessment of

– Problem-solving skills

PISA self-reports on:– Dispositions to learning– Learning strategies– Engagement with school



world

Acting autonomously


Not yet developed

171710%

22%

12%

6%

22%

29%

OECD Average

Levels of reading literacy

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

Level 2

Level 1

Below Level 1

Reading Literacy Level 5:– Retrieving information

– Locate and sequence/combine multiple pieces of deeply embedded information, some of which may be outside text

– Infer which information on text is relevant to the task– Deal with highly plausible competing information

– Interpreting texts– Construe the meaning of nuanced language– Demonstrate full and detailed understanding of a text

– Reflection and evaluation– Critically evaluate or hypothesise, drawing on specialised knowledge– Deal with concepts that are contrary to expectations– Draw on deep understanding of long and complex texts

Hong Kong: 10%Germany: 9%

USA: 12%Finland: 19%

Reading Literacy Level 1:– Retrieving information

– Locate one or more independent pieces of explicitly stated information, – typically meeting a single criterion – With little or no competing information in the text

– Interpreting texts– Recognise the main theme or author’s purpose in a text about a familiar topic

– Reflection and evaluation– Make a simple connection between information in the text and common

knowledge

Hong Kong: 7%Germany: 13%

USA: 12%

Below Level 1:– Many of these students have technically

learned to read……

but they can not use reading for learning

Hong Kong: 3%France: 4%

Germany: 10%USA: 6%

Overall, Hong Kong has few low-performers

But the risk for boys in Hong Kong to perform poorly is 3 times as high as for girls !

– Percentages at Levels 1 and below– Boys: 12%– Girls: 4%

1818

1910 14 16

9 125 9

1

32

31 27 24

24 22

21 2019

6

29

33 30 2831 27

33 31 27

19

1417 18 20

22 21 26 26 22

30

5 7 8 9 11 12 12 1413

28

2 3 3 4 4 6 4 510

16

40%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Fin

land

Hon

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Irel

and

Uni

ted_

Kin

gdom

Fra

nce

Uni

ted_

Sta

tes

Spa

in

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y

Ger

man

y

Mex

ico

Percentage of students at each of the proficiency levels in reading literacy

Level 2

Level 1

Below Level 1

1 65-7

1511-16

2119-24

2221-25

53-9

87-9

1610-20

34

Level 5

Level 4

Level 3

1917-21

1919

-30

-10

10

30

50

70

90

110

130

150

170Ger

man

y

Ital

y

Hon

g Kon

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na

Jap

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zil

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ted

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tes

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erat

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ted

Kin

gdom

Indo

nesi

a

Aus

tral

ia

Tha

iland

Kor

ea

Can

ada

Fin

land

Swed

en

Variation in reading literacy performance

10

132

622

237

35

28

16

7421

89

2020

-100

-80

-60

-40

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

Ger

man

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2121

-100

-80

-60

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60

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ea

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land

Swed

en

Variation of performance

between schools

Variation of performance within

schools


10

132

622

237

35

28

16

7421

89

2222

Social Advantag

e

LowPISA Index of social

background

Social background is a powerful factorinfluencing student performance

(Parental occupation, wealth, cultural resources, parental education, family structure, immigrant status)

But poor performance does not automatically follow

High performanc

e

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

in P

ISA

Social Background and Student Performance

2323

350

400

450

500

550

600

-2.5 -2 -1.5 -1 -0.5 0 0.5 1 1.5 2

Finland J apan Hong Kong UK

France US I taly Germany

High performanc

e

LowPISA Index of social

background

Stu

dent

perf

orm

ance

in P

ISA

Social Background and Student Performance

Social Advantag

e

2424

Where we can be.

What the best performing countries show can be achieved.

2525

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

Low performance

Low social equity

High performance

Low social equity

Low performance

High social equity

High performance

High social equityLow

Social equityHigh

Social equity

Thailand

Peru

Liechtenstein

Russian Fed.Latvia

Israel

FYR MacedoniaIndonesia

Hong Kong- China/

Chile

Bulgaria

Albania

Brazil

Argentina

Finland

KoreaJ apan

Iceland

Canada

Ireland

Sweden

SpainI taly

PolandGreecePortugal

Luxembourg

Mexico

Denmark

AustriaNorway

New ZealandAustralia

United Kingdom

Belgium/FranceUnited States

SwitzerlandCzech Republik

HungaryGermany

325

350

375

400

425

450

475

500

525

550

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

2626

Low Performan

ce

HighPerforman

ce

Low performance

Low social equity

High performance

Low social equity

Low performance

High social equity

High performance

High social equityLow

Social equityHigh

Social equity

Thailand

Peru

Liechtenstein

Russian Fed.

LatviaIsrael

FYR Macedonia

Indonesia

Hong Kong- China

Chile

Bulgaria

Albania

Brazil

Argentina

Finland

KoreaJ apan

Iceland

CanadaIreland

Sweden

SpainI taly

PolandGreece

Portugal

Luxembourg

Mexico

Denmark

AustriaNorway

New Zealand

AustraliaUnited Kingdom

BelgiumFranceUnited States


Hungary

Germany

325

350

375

400

425

450

475

500

525

550

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Quality and equity can be achieved together• ‘dumbing down’ is not an inevitable

consequence of the pursuit of equity

• ‘levelling up’ is achievable(e.g. Finland, Korea, Canada)

2727

Policy levers.

Overall findings

2828 Policy Levers Performance in reading

Students from advantaged backgrounds…… have a greater chance of coming to school more

engaged in reading and entering into a virtuous circle of increasing reading interest and improved reading performance

… but not all engaged students come from privileged homes…… and those from more modest backgrounds who

read regularly and feel positive about it are better readers than students with home advantages and weaker reading engagement

Schools can make a significant difference to bring students into the virtuous circle– Seeking mutual reinforcement of cognitive skills

and motivation, particularly for boys

2929 Policy Levers Student approaches to learning

The ability to manage one’s learning is both an important outcome of education and a contributor to student literacy skills at school– Learning strategies, motivation, self-related beliefs,

preferred learning styles Different aspects of students’ learning approaches

are closely related– Well-motivated and self-confident students tend to

invest in effective learning strategies and this contributes to their literacy skills

Immigrant students tend to be weaker performers… but they do not have weaker characteristics as learners

Boys and girls each have distinctive strengths and weaknesses as learners– Girls stronger in relation to motivation and self-

confidence in reading– Boys believing more than girls in their own efficacy as

learners and in their mathematical abilities

3030 Policy Levers Student engagement at school

An important outcome in itself– Disaffection at age 15 can potentially be a precursor to

the onset of more serious problems among vulnerable young people

– Engagement at age 15 is likely to influence students’ choices and educational pathways

The prevalence of disaffected students varies significantly across schools in each country– Only weak link to student’s social background – there

is thus scope for school policy/practice to engage students

– But strong link to school’s social background Students in schools with strong average

engagement tend to perform well– Engagement and performance seem to work

complementary– The school climate seems to make more of a difference

than resources For individual students, strong performance does not

necessarily ensure strong engagement at school– Relationship complex

3131

Policy levers.

Some characteristics shared by some strongly performing countries

Combining the empirical results obtained through PISA with qualitative information on the socio-cultural conditions and education policy

strategies.

3232 Sympathy doesn’t raise standards – aspiration does

In the 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 shows that students perceived a high degree of teacher support– Which should not be simply equated with

“achievement press”

3333 Governance of the school system In the countries studied…

Decentralised 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 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

3434

Thailand

Peru

Liechtenstein

Russian Fed.

LatviaI srael

FYR Macedonia

I ndonesia

Hong Kong- China

Chile

Bulgaria

Albania

Brazil

Argentina

Finland

KoreaJ apan

I celand

CanadaI reland

Sweden

SpainI taly

PolandGreece

Portugal

Luxembourg

Mexico

Denmark

AustriaNorway

New Zealand




Hungary

Germany

325

350

375

400

425

450

475

500

525

550

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Low Social equity

HighSocial equity

HighPerforman

ce

Low Performan

ce

E.g. Learning environment and course offering

High degree of autonomy

Low degree of autonomy

% Variance between schools

3535 Organisation of instruction In the 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

3636

Thailand

Peru

Liechtenstein

Russian Fed.

LatviaI srael

FYR Macedonia

I ndonesia

Hong Kong- China

Chile

Bulgaria

Albania

Brazil

Argentina

Finland

KoreaJ apan

I celand

CanadaI reland

Sweden

SpainI taly

PolandGreece

Portugal

Luxembourg

Mexico

Denmark

AustriaNorway

New Zealand




Hungary

Germany

325

350

375

400

425

450

475

500

525

550

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25

Low Social equity

HighSocial equity

HighPerforman

ce

Low Performan

ce

Early selection and institutional stratification

Low degree of stratification

High degree of stratification

3737Support systems and professional teacher

development In the 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

3838Summary of common characteristics

“hit and miss” Universal high standards

“Inputs” Outcomes

Bureaucratic Devolved responsibility

Look up Look outwards

Received wisdom Data and best practice

Uniformity Diversity

Prescription Informed profession

Evaluation to controlMotivating feedback and incentivising success and innovation

3939 One challenge – different approaches

The tradition of education systems

has been “knowledge poor”

The future of education systems needs to be

“knowledge rich”

National prescription

Professional judgement

Informed professional judgement, the teacher

as a “knowledge worker”

Informed prescription

Uninformed professional judgement

Uninformed prescription,

teachers implement curricula

4040 Further information

www.oecd.org www.pisa.oecd.org email: [email protected]

[email protected]

…and remember:

Without data, you are just another person with an opinion

Documents

Improving both quality and equity Hong Kong, 21 November 2003 Andreas Schleicher Head, Indicators and Analysis Division OECD OECD Programme for International