Suchergebnisse

One of the most salient findings from the field of education is that there are huge national differences in student achievement as shown in international comparative studies like PISA and TIMSS. The shockingly large gap between the highest performing countries (mostly in East Asia) and many European countries corresponds to a difference in attainment of two years of schooling. Although this finding has been replicated in several studies, the reasons for and consequences of such differences are currently not well understood. This book is a collection of essays and studies by leading experts in international comparative education who demonstrate how international comparative assessments can be used to evaluate educational policies. The volume is organized into two parts that address, first, theoretical foundations and methodological developments in the field of international assessments, and, second, innovative substantive studies that utilize international data for policy evaluation studies. The intention of this book is to revisit the idea of 'using the world as an educational laboratory', both to inform policy and to facilitate theory development.

The main argument of the paper is that studying educational inequalities is based on certain ideas about social justice that are often not sufficiently explicated. Some inequalities are irrelevant or less relevant than others when we think about educational justice. The central thesis is that the operationalization of justice, i.e. selection of an inequality from a set of alternatives, is a normative decision. Different normative assumptions lead to different operationalization. The metric of inequalities and the choice of an equitable distributive rule provide a conceptual framework with which to describe how inequalities are assessed in empirical studies. As researchers are obliged to be transparent about the entire research process, they should also reveal their normative accounts more explicitly and thereby empower the reader to evaluate the theoretical foundations of a study. (DIPF/Orig.).

Several countries have expanded extended education in recent years. In Germany, the most substantial educational reform is the ongoing transformation of the traditional half-day school system into an all-day school system. Among politicians, expectations are high that all-day schools will promote student achievement and reduce social achievement inequalities. To test these assumptions, we used representative data from the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS) to estimate two-level latent growth models for achievement in grades 5, 7, and 9. The analyses revealed initial achievement differences but no differences in achievement growth or changes in inequality throughout secondary school. This suggests that selection mechanisms are at work but that half- and all-day schools are not differentially effective. We discuss these findings in light of the international debate on the quality of extended education. (DIPF/Orig.)

Die Autoren befassen sich mit der Frage, ob standardisierte Leistungstests ein Instrument zur Stärkung der Diagnosekompetenz von Lehrkräften darstellen. Mit Hilfe von Mehrebenenanalysen untersuchen sie, ob bei Lehrkräften, die nach eigenen Angaben bei der Leistungsbeurteilung auf die Ergebnisse standardisierter Tests zurückgreifen, ein stärkerer Zusammenhang zwischen der mithilfe von Leistungstests gemessenen Fachleistung von Schülerinnen und Schülern und dem Lehrerurteil in Form von Noten zu beobachten ist als bei Lehrkräften, die dies nicht tun. (DIPF/Orig.).

Seit der Bildungsreform der 1970er Jahre werden verstärkte Erwartungen an frühkindliche Betreuungs- und Bildungsangebote gestellt. Hierzu gehören die Verbesserung der Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf sowie die optimale Förderung aller Kinder. Der Kindergarten soll zudem Chancen- und Bildungsgerechtigkeit befördern und vor allem jenen Kindern zugutekommen, die in weniger privilegierten Elternhäusern aufwachsen. In dem Beitrag vergleichen die Autoren, wie lange Kinder den Kindergarten besuchen. Sie betrachten die Teilnahme an frühkindlichen Bildungsangeboten in Abhängigkeit des sozioökonomischen Status, des Migrationshintergrunds sowie des Anregungsniveaus im Elternhaus. Die Untersuchung nutzt Daten der für Deutschland repräsentativen Stichprobe der Internationalen Grundschul-Lese-Untersuchung (IGLU) 2001. Das Ergebnis der Analysen ist, dass der Kindergartenbesuch stark von dem sozialen und ethnisch-kulturellen Hintergrund der Familien abzuhängen scheint. (DIPF/Orig.).

The main aim of this essay is to discuss how international large-scale assessments can be utilized for policy evaluation studies. The authors overview key findings from previous studies and propose the curriculum as an organizing concept in considering firstly, how educational opportunities are provided to students around the world, and secondly, the factors that influence how students use these opportunities. Thereafter, they discuss recent developments in the design of the international studies and methodological advances that allow for robust inferences about the causal mechanisms that cause the observed differences in student outcomes. Finally, the authors identify major challenges for future research including the demand for studies that utilize the trend design of modern studies, more focus on educational equity, and strengthening interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations. (DIPF/Orig.).