The aim of this article is to examine how transnational concepts within educational policies influence national curricula in the reconceptualisation of educational policy into concrete curriculum texts. Based on a critical discourse analysis and the concepts of recontextualisation, convergence and divergence, a third wave of European policy…

This study examines the data of students from Finland (n = 8,829) and Turkey (n = 4,848) who participated in the 2012 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The purpose of this study is to discern whether the use and availability of information and communication technologies (ICT) at home and at school have a differential impact on…

Examining the testing processes, as well as the scores, is needed for a complete understanding of validity and fairness of computer-based assessments. Examinees' rapid-guessing and insufficient familiarity with computers have been found to be major issues that weaken the validity arguments of scores. This study has three goals: (a) improving…

Delaying tracking, extending students' exposure to a general academic education and increasing their time on task on basic competences (reading, mathematics) could improve academic outcomes. To test the hypothesis that delayed vocational streaming improves academic outcomes, this paper analyzes Poland's significant improvements in international…

At a time when the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and partner countries are trying to figure out how to reduce burgeoning debt and make the most of shrinking public budgets, spending on education is an obvious target for scrutiny. Education officials, teachers, policy makers, parents and students struggle to determine…

This study uses the Taiwan Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 Main Survey and Taiwan PISA 2015 Field Trial survey datasets to investigate how self-evaluated values (i.e. personal and general) and cognitive factors (i.e. self-efficacy and self-concept) of two groups of Taiwanese 15-year-old students separated by 8 years of…

This paper briefly discusses four measurement challenges of data science or "big data" in educational assessments that are enabled by technology: 1. Dealing with change over time via time-based data. 2. How a digital performance space's relationships interact with learner actions, communications and products. 3. How layers of…

This study explored the relationships among high school students' reading comprehension achievement, three latent constructs (reading comprehension strategy use, reading comprehension strategy instruction, reading attitudes), and five control variables (gender, minority status, socio-economic status [SES], class time, class size). The purpose of…

Despite decades of educational reforms, the achievement gap based on socioeconomic status (SES) persists in the United States. Not only does the SES-based achievement gap persist, it has also been widening. This study focused on the role of students, hypothesizing that students might reduce the SES-based achievement gap by increasing their…

The demographic shift occurring in Serbia has had a profound effect on the education system. The student population has declined by 21 percent in primary schools and 13 percent in secondary schools since 2000, but the school network has changed little since then. This has resulted in many schools with few students. Furthermore, the total number of…

Globalisation and rapid technological progress have increased the focus on efficient investment in high-quality skills across the European Union (EU) countries. One issue that is high on the political agenda is the persistent underachievement among youths in many European countries meaning that approximately 20 percent of Europe's 15 year olds…

Data from a Swedish PISA-sample were used (1) to identify a digital reading factor, (2) to investigate gender differences in this factor (if found), and (3) to explore how computer game playing might relate to digital reading performance and gender. The analyses were conducted with structural equation modeling techniques. In addition to an overall…

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. It provides the most comprehensive and rigorous international assessment of student learning outcomes to date. Results from PISA indicate the quality and equity of learning…

This study investigates how affective and self-related factors impact participation in science learning and environmental awareness and responsibility. Using PISA 2006 datasets from Taiwan and Canada having similar level of science competency, the model for this study verifies and expands an earlier model by examining the relationships among…

Attracting significant attention from the media and policymakers, international student assessments are serving as pressures on and challenges for individual countries. Even so, paying attention only to publicly released rankings in international student assessments may lead to superficial interpretations of the assessment results. Simply equating…