Pearson-Exploring-Effective-Pedagogy-in-Primary-Schools

SER and international comparisons draw the spotlight away from regulatory frameworks to focuson what happens at the school level in order to explore the notion of an “effective” school.Whilst it has been relatively easy for educationalists to makeinternational comparisons of the structural aspects ofschooling (e.g., age at start of school, adult/child ratios),it is only more recently that comparisons could bemade regarding the “outcomes” or “processes”(pedagogy e.g., classroom interactions) ofeducation. The development of systems assessingstudents’ outcomes globally has paved the way forcomparisons to be made and for a wider debate onwhat matters in educating populations around theworld.“Thedevelopmentof systems assessingstudents’ outcomesglobally has paved the wayfor comparisons to be madeand for a wider debate onwhat matters in educatingpopulations aroundthe world”In 1995, the International Association for the Evaluationof Educational Achievement (IEA) implemented an ambitiousinternational assessment of student outcomes with the introduction ofthe Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The TIMSS programme testedand compared the academic performance of pupils aged 9/10 and 13/14 in a common set ofassessments, allowing for comparisons to be made across the 45 countries that participated in thefirst “sweep”. Every four years, TIMSS collected not only students’ raw scores but also informationon their background demographic, attitudes and experiences of school. Following TIMSS, theIEA introduced the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), which monitoredthe reading achievements and behaviours of children aged 9/10. Launched in 2001, PIRLS initiallyinvolved 36 countries with follow-ups conducted every five years.Perhaps the most well-known outcome study is the Programme for International StudentAssessment (PISA) developed in 1997 by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation andDevelopment (OECD). Every three years, it produces international comparisons of educationsystems worldwide by investigating adolescent performance (age 15) across diverse nations.PISA compares pupils’ academic performance in mathematics, science and reading. By 2009,approximately 470,000 students in 65 nations and territories participated in the programme.These three systems for tracking educational outcomes at an international level are now firmlyestablished. Their results have been used not only to compare “systems” but to inform thedevelopment of education policies. Earlier results, which placed many Pacific Rim countries at thetop of the “league tables” and some Western countries, notably Germany, further down, have beeninstrumental in igniting debates concerning how education works at both the macro (nationalpolicies and regulation) and the micro (school and classroom) levels, and how these compareacross countries. The comprehensive data produced by PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS have drawnattention to the importance of measurable student outcomes. The findings in this report supportother reports undertaken by Pearson such as The Learning Curve (The Economist Intelligence Unit,2012; 2014), where the issues of what teachers can actually do to improve practice is explainedalongside outcomes and the benefits of certain systems and policies and practices.2 | Exploring Effective Pedagogy in Primary Schools