TY - JOUR
T1 - Globalisation and the politics of international tests
T2 - The case of Israel
AU - Feniger, Yariv
AU - Livneh, Idit
AU - Yogev, Abraham
N1 - Funding Information:
Abraham Yogev is professor of sociology of education in the School of Education and the Department of Sociology at Tel Aviv University, Israel. His main interests are educational policy and social stratification, especially on the secondary and tertiary levels. At present he conducts a study, sponsored by the Israel Science Foundation, on faculty attitudes toward academic capitalism in Israel.
PY - 2012/8/1
Y1 - 2012/8/1
N2 - Comparative international tests of students' achievements have become increasingly popular over the past decade. An outcome of this widespread practice is the tendency of various countries to evaluate their national status according to their pupils' international ranking in such achievement tests, partly due to the common belief that high ranking is an indication of the nation's future ability to compete in the global market. Using PISA 2000 and PISA 2006 data, the present study aims to show that the low achievements of Israeli pupils were to be expected, and that their average scores are a reflection of the economic and demographic characteristics of their country. Our findings suggest that the public debate in Israel on school achievements has been magnified out of all proportion. We also discuss the educational policy which derives proposals for educational reform from a conception of globalisation of education. This policy focuses on the setting of standards for educational achievements aimed at improving pupils' place on the international scale. Finally, we claim that the focus on the international grading of educational achievements deflects public attention from an understanding of the significance of inequalities within the country.
AB - Comparative international tests of students' achievements have become increasingly popular over the past decade. An outcome of this widespread practice is the tendency of various countries to evaluate their national status according to their pupils' international ranking in such achievement tests, partly due to the common belief that high ranking is an indication of the nation's future ability to compete in the global market. Using PISA 2000 and PISA 2006 data, the present study aims to show that the low achievements of Israeli pupils were to be expected, and that their average scores are a reflection of the economic and demographic characteristics of their country. Our findings suggest that the public debate in Israel on school achievements has been magnified out of all proportion. We also discuss the educational policy which derives proposals for educational reform from a conception of globalisation of education. This policy focuses on the setting of standards for educational achievements aimed at improving pupils' place on the international scale. Finally, we claim that the focus on the international grading of educational achievements deflects public attention from an understanding of the significance of inequalities within the country.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84865105757&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/03050068.2011.622539
DO - 10.1080/03050068.2011.622539
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84865105757
SN - 0305-0068
VL - 48
SP - 323
EP - 335
JO - Comparative Education
JF - Comparative Education
IS - 3
ER -
