Comments on: The TIMSS Rorschach Test

By: Julia Vida+ Hungarian researchers

Julia Vida+ Hungarian researchers — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:33:23 +0000

I would just like to say thank you for this post I like it very much! We did a study about the reception of PISA in Hungary and its impact on the Hungarian education policy discourse. One of our main findings was that PISA was an “empty container” which could be filled with content according to the interpreter’s interests and objectives. If interested,u can download our study from here along with other studies about PISA in other EU countries: http://www.knowandpol.eu

By: Amran Noordin

Amran Noordin — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:24:48 +0000

What does TIMSS really measure? Does doing well on test scores mean real learning has taken place or that you just have an entrenched test prep culture? Kevin has made a good point about Japan. The same could be said about Singapore who again did pretty well in TIMSS. It has a very high stakes examinations-heavy school curriculum that has caused almost parents who can afford it, to hire an army of private tutors to ensure high test scores for their kids. Singapore success is due to this state of test preparedness. Is that what you want in the US?

By: kevin

kevin — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 10:15:55 +0000

I read Bracey on Huffington and got excited about how he was trying to link educational outcomes to something MEANINGFUL in the real world rather than abstract test scores. But I don’t see the goal of public education as increasing worker productivity – thats too close to the goal of increasing test scores for me. I’m concerned with touchy-feely outcomes like increasing happiness, decreasing incarceration rates, health. When I look at the TIMMS scores of countries that do well in those areas those scores become irrelevant. Japan does well, but I’m not trying to live in Japan. If we start doing as well as Japan on TIMMS will we also start doing better of increasing stress and increasing the number of teenage suicide cults?
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/ed20070615a2.html
I’d rather my students live. Look at Denmark – happiest people in the world – we schooled them . Really though? They’re still happier than we are.
I do concede that we do have a lot to learn from Japan when it comes to teacher collaboration.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:24:37 +0000

And I think our productivity is higher not because we score better on tests – we don’t – but because our economy is set up in a way to reward the most talented.

At least it used to. Now that kids see you can get $700 billion for not only failing to generate a profit but for dragging down the entire economy with your failure. I’m sure our test scores will decline even further since we reward failure in education and in the private market now.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:22:00 +0000

I had to take one of those as part of my testing for dyslexia and what not. I told the guy he was holding the picture upside down and he took me seriously and flipped it over.

In the end, the guy told me I was emotionless – the irony was so immense, I could not even laugh.

By: Brian Gottlob

Brian Gottlob — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:22:10 +0000

…and there is perhaps no greater evidence of the failure of U.S. public schools (and universities) to teach grammar, spelling, and composition (not to mention editing), than my prior post.

By: Brian Gottlob

Brian Gottlob — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:15:25 +0000

The productivity of any workforce is a a number of factors. The preferred measure, “multi-factor” productivity, is used a function of labor, capital, and what is generally referred to as technology but is really a residual that reflects the accumulated know how of a workforce. The U.S. has much deeper capital and has much more accumulated “know how” than many of the countries with which it is compared on educational tests and it is the capital and “know-how” that largely accounts for the higher productivity of the U.S. workforce. Emerging countries are becoming more capital intensive and with each year accumulated “know-how” increases. We will not be able to rely on the “U.S. has the most productive workforce” excuse for that much longer.