Education Department Considers Taking US Schools
Out of International Rankings
By Jillian S. Ambroz
Donald Trump’s campaign slogan of “America First” has led us
down a path of isolationism in the global economy on many fronts, from trade to
environmental policies. Now we may be adding educational development to the
list.
New filings by the Department of Education suggest that
Secretary Betsy DeVos and team may want to pull out of international studies
that rank teachers and students on everything from class size and teacher
preparation to computer literacy.
One of the studies, the Teaching and Learning International
Survey, is a large-scale international study that focuses on working conditions
and learning environments in schools.
It was first delivered in 2008, though the U.S. didn’t participate, and is administered every five years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The 2013 survey involved 100,000 teachers in 34 countries, including the U.S.
It was first delivered in 2008, though the U.S. didn’t participate, and is administered every five years by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The 2013 survey involved 100,000 teachers in 34 countries, including the U.S.
Some of the key insights from that survey showed that U.S. teachers spend more time in the classroom teaching than any other country participating in the survey,
despite teachers in some countries, such as Japan, clocking more working hours.
U.S. class sizes are also larger than the average class size in
the study, 27 students per class vs. 24, respectively. And U.S. teachers are more likely to encounter
economically disadvantaged students at 30%, compared to the study’s average,
which was 20%.
Those findings are all important points that the Department of
Education should address—not because of where we might stand internationally,
but because of teacher efficacy and burnout. The international survey just
brought these points into sharp focus when compared with the rest of the world.
The agency has already done the preliminary work to prepare for
the survey, conducting school recruitment for the main study sample in
September 2016, which was approved in June. In the U.S. survey is conducted by
the National Center for Education Statistics of the Institute of Education
Sciences within the Department of Education.
In February, it ran field tests to evaluate the newly developed
teacher and school questionnaire items and test the survey operations in
February, so it is unclear how things will move forward now that it is asking the public for input on whether participation in
this survey is worthwhile – a move
signaling a likely pullout.
Another filing suggests the agency wants to drop out of another
international study, one that tests eighth graders’ computer literacy.
The International Computer and Information Literacy Study
(ICILS) was first administered in
2013 to 21 countries, testing 60,000 students and 35,000 teachers at more than
3,300 schools around the world. The U.S. did not participate.
The study is given by the International Association for the
Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), an independent, international
cooperative of national of research agencies that create the framework,
assessment and background questionnaires on education systems and curricula.
This test is also administered every five years and will be
given next year. The Department of Education has taken measures to prepare for
this study in 2018, recruiting for the main study, conducting field tests from
May through June to evaluate new assessment items and ensure practices promote
a successful study.
The study tests participants’ abilities to collect, manage,
evaluate and share digital information at school and home environments and
ranks them across four skill levels. Again, important information to know about
our students and arguably even more critical when put in a global context if we
want future generations to be able to compete in the global economy.
ACTION BOX/What You Can Do About It
Contact Education Secretary Betsy DeVos at
202-401-3000 on Facebook or Twitter and tell her participation in international
education studies is important to our educational progress as a nation.
Contact your representatives and senators and ask them to promote any
educational policies that help us stay competitive.