Sunday, December 1, 2013

The Educated Reporter: Bracing for PISA: How Do America's Public Schools Compare Internationally?

The Educated Reporter: Bracing for PISA: How Do America's Public Schools Compare Internationally?:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2, 2013

Bracing for PISA: How Do America's Public Schools Compare Internationally?




The latest results of PISA -- an international assessment often used to compare the quality of the nation's public schools against other developed countries -- will be released Tuesday. That makes today the day to keep one particular word in mind: perspective.

My EWA colleague Mikhail Zinshteyn put together a useful primer on PISA, which is overseen by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). I encourage you to read it ahead of tomorrow's headlines. For more on PISA's limitations, and why broad-brush comparisons among countries don't contribute much to the conversation on America's educational equity and achievement gaps, check out Eduwonk Andy Rotherham's 2011 piece for Time.

We held a webinar a few weeks ago for reporters to talk more about PISA with Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's education director, as well as Mark Tucker of the