Interpretation of international test score comparisons

Science

Volumn 280, Issue 5366, 1998, Pages 1030-1031

  Rotberg, Iris C ^a  

^a GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT; AGE; CRIME; EDUCATION; HEALTH; MATHEMATICS; NUTRITION; PHYSICS; POLICY; POVERTY; PRIORITY JOURNAL; RESEARCH; SCHOOL; SCIENCE; SHORT SURVEY; TASK PERFORMANCE; VIOLENCE;

EID: 0032524084     PISSN: 00368075     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1126/science.280.5366.1030     Document Type: Short Survey

References (12)

1. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Twelfth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context, NCES 98-049 (U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1998).
2. See, for example, T. Husén, Phi Delta Kappan 64, 455 (March 1983); H. J. Kiesling, Econ. Educat. Rev. 13, 179 (1994).
3. See, for example, T. Husén, Phi Delta Kappan 64, 455 (March 1983); H. J. Kiesling, Econ. Educat. Rev. 13, 179 (1994).
4. I. C. Rotberg, Phi Delta Kappan 72, 296 (December 1990).
5. The College Board, News from The College Board (New York, 26 August 1997).
6. NCES, Education in States and Nations: Indicators Comparing U.S. States with the OECD Countries in 1988, NCES 93-237 (NCES, Washington, DC, 1993); The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD, 1995).
7. NCES, Education in States and Nations: Indicators Comparing U.S. States with the OECD Countries in 1988, NCES 93-237 (NCES, Washington, DC, 1993); The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Kids Count Data Book: State Profiles of Child Well-Being (The Annie E. Casey Foundation, Baltimore, MD, 1995).
8. See, for example, M. L. Blackburn, Comparing Poverty: The United States and Other Industrialized Nations (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, Washington, DC, 1997).
9. Although multivariate analysis might have improved the study, it could not overcome the basic problem. In order to carry out a multivariate analysis - and show a relationship between the test scores and educational quality in each of the participating countries - we would need to identify, and then measure, the potential confounding variables. The problems inherent in making comparisons even within a single school district or state in the United States are well documented (8). These comparisons become even more unrealistic when we attempt to link test scores with school quality across a set of diverse nations from which we have little information about a broad range of variables: the characteristics of participating and nonparticipating schools and students; varying practices with respect to the inclusion or exclusion of low-achieving students, language-minority students, students with disabilities, types of programs, or entire regions of the country; the mix of public and private schools; the consistency between the educational program and the test; differences in coaching practices, tracking, and school completion rates; variations in family socioeconomic status and how it is measured in different countries; and many more. There are enormous practical and political obstacles to acquiring quality data on the many variables, and for this reason international test score comparisons to date have not conducted multivariate analyses.
10. See, for example, R. F. Elmore, C. H. Abelmann, and S. H. Fuhrman, in Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education, H. F. Ladd, Ed. (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1996), pp. 65-98; R. K. Hambleton et al., Review of the Measurement Quality of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System, 1991-1994 (Office of Educational Accountability, Kentucky General Assembly, Frankfort, KY, June 1995); I. C. Rotberg, Science 270, 1446 (1995).
11. See, for example, R. F. Elmore, C. H. Abelmann, and S. H. Fuhrman, in Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education, H. F. Ladd, Ed. (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1996), pp. 65-98; R. K. Hambleton et al., Review of the Measurement Quality of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System, 1991-1994 (Office of Educational Accountability, Kentucky General Assembly, Frankfort, KY, June 1995); I. C. Rotberg, Science 270, 1446 (1995).
12. See, for example, R. F. Elmore, C. H. Abelmann, and S. H. Fuhrman, in Holding Schools Accountable: Performance-Based Reform in Education, H. F. Ladd, Ed. (Brookings Institution Press, Washington, DC, 1996), pp. 65-98; R. K. Hambleton et al., Review of the Measurement Quality of the Kentucky Instructional Results Information System, 1991-1994 (Office of Educational Accountability, Kentucky General Assembly, Frankfort, KY, June 1995); I. C. Rotberg, Science 270, 1446 (1995).