1. OECD Launches PISA Test for Schools

In previous administrations of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), the OECD has sampled populations of students in both developed and developing countries in order to assess how those students perform compared to their peers worldwide.  However, more specific information about student performance in these countries, such as school-level data, has not been available until now.  The results of the first administration of the OECD Test for Schools, in which individual schools were able to choose to participate in a “PISA-style test” to compare their students with the world’s top performers. ­ This test, like PISA, focuses on applying math, science and reading skills to real-world problems.  The OECD hopes to expand the availability of the test to countries including Spain and the United Kingdom soon.  Read the full story at the BBC.

America Achieves has produced a report based on the results of the roughly 100 U.S. schools that participated in the first administration of the OECD Test for Schools.  In contrast to what some researchers have argued, this new report finds that when you look at students in the middle-to-upper middle class in the United States, they are lagging significantly behind students in other countries – including 24 other countries in math and 15 in science.  In addition to taking into account the already published PISA data and the OECD PISA Index of Economic, Social and Cultural Status, the report is able to use the results of the new test to look at how specific US schools are doing with reference to their student populations.  The report’s authors find that there are world-class schools in the United States in which students outperform most other countries in the world and can be considered on par with the average scores of the top performer, Shanghai.  On the other hand, they find that some schools that are considered to be top performers in their states are actually lagging woefully behind the rest of the world.  More resources related to their findings, including case studies of schools, a sample test and videos, are available here.

Beginning in September 2013, the OECD Test for Schools will be available to all high schools in the United States.  Schools will be able to decide whether they want to participate in the program, and also whether they want to make their results public.  In the initial pilot administration of the test, 13 schools out of the 100 tested shared their results nationally in the America Achieves report.  All of these schools are considered “exceptional” according to the report’s definition, and had scores that were equal to or better than the top international performers in the 2009 PISA administration.

Image Source: BBC

2. China Moves Toward Integrating Technology into Classrooms

The Beijing government has plans to integrate technology more fully into classrooms in that municipality by providing financial support to schools and students.  In addition to issuing free tablet computers to all first and second grade students in one school district as part of a trial, the government has announced that they have set aside nearly US$500,000 to increase the use of e-books and tablets in schools.  Teachers have reported both successes and setbacks with the trial tablet program.  One setback is the lack of resources to use with the technology, and the Beijing Academy of Educational Science has been tasked with creating new programs and electronic texts.  Parents, too, have mixed feelings about the project: some are worried about the health benefits of young children staring at screens all day, while others are concerned that technology will distract students from focusing on their lessons.  Read the full story at Xinhuanet.

3.  Debate Over How Best to Teach English In Japan

Last week, the Liberal Democratic Party in Japan proposed their first major school reform proposal, calling for the reform of English education and advocating that all public and private universities require their applicants achieve a specified minimum score on the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL). This week, The Japan Times editorial board refuted the plan, writing, “the proposal offers no genuinely effective measures for improving the teaching and learning of English in Japan.”  They argued that resources would be better spent on supporting English teachers to improve their English skills and teaching methods.  In addition, they point out that these tests only assess speaking, listening, reading and writing and fail to address the ability to use English in the real world.  They are further concerned about who would pay for the TOEFL tests as the current official price is $225 per person.

4. Hong Kong Charity Launches Digital Academy YouTube Channel

WebOrganic, a charity group based in Hong Kong, launched the first educational YouTube channel in the SAR last month. The Hong Kong Digital Academy YouTube Channel encourages teachers throughout Hong Kong to create and share video lessons and tutorials online, which other teachers can then incorporate into lesson plans and homework assignments for students. Teachers from around Hong Kong may now submit videos to WebOrganic, which will then upload them onto its channel. The project is meant to allow more students to benefit from high quality teaching. Previously, teachers could only upload videos to school servers, which would then slow down as a high volume of students watched the same video at the same time. Now, with the videos hosted on YouTube, unlimited students can stream the tutorials anytime, expanding the reach of high quality teaching tools outside the wealthier schools where they are produced. There are currently 38 educational videos available on the channel, from teachers in four Hong Kong schools. Read more at theHong Kong Standard.

Photo Credit: Hong Kong Standard

5. New Zealand Releases Annual Nationwide Test Results, Admits Mistakes

This week, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) released school results for the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) 2012 academic year. The Press.co.nz reports that students in Canterbury outperformed their national counterparts despite ongoing recovery efforts from the 2011 earthquake, which damaged schools and forced schools to share sites and reduce school days.  83.5% of Canterbury year 11 students reached NCEA level one standards, compared to 77.1% in Auckland and a national average of 79.1%. However, some teachers are disappointed in the exams, citing errors picked up after the exams were administered. The New Zealand Qualifications Authority admits to at least one mistake in an NCEA mathematics exam, and has assured students that the mistake will not affect their scores. Read more at 3News.

Image Source:3 News