The 2006 test results from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have sounded the 21^st century competiveness alarm-perhaps too loudly.  In the wake of anguish by some countries and exultation by others, Stephen Downes takes the time to ask the key questions of any assessment. "First, what is being measured by tests of this sort? And second, what can the results of these tests tell us about the design of our educational system?"

Significantly, PISA is not tied to the school curriculum, as is Trends in Math and Science Study (TIMSS). PISA's FAQ clarifies: "Rather than examine mastery of specific school curricula, PISA looks at students' ability to apply knowledge and skills in key subject areas and to analyse, reason and communicate effectively as they examine, interpret and solve problems"

While those are valuable abilities, noes Downes, PISA can be viewed as a test of IQ or common sense, not the result of schooling. If that is the case, it should not guide changes to the school. It is also tenuous to compare two schools system with different objectives.  It may, for example, "be premature to assess students' preparedness for life in school systems where a 15-year-old is only partway through his or her education, while using the same framework to assess students in other systems where the leaving age may be earlier.

Nor is it clear that the measurement of a student's ability to complete a test is a relevant assessment of learning at all. Downes quotes Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's education minister, suggesting that these international assessments cannot measure the very attributes that some nations perceive as America's strengths:

[America's] is a talent meritocracy; ours is an exam meritocracy. There are some parts of the intellect that we are not able to test well-like creativity, curiosity, a sense of adventure, ambition. Most of all, America has a culture of learning that challenges conventional wisdom, even if it means challenging authority. These are the areas where Singapore must learn from America.

There are not tests to measure those abilities. In their absence, says Downes, policymakers should not overreact to a single measure of proficiency or global ranking.

Source: Innovate, Places to Go: PISA, requires free registration