In recent years the words 'Finnish education' have been accompanied by utterances of 'an education miracle,' 'the best education system,' 'a success' and a number of other adjectives and superlatives to 'describe' education in Finland. While Finland's PISA ranking has declined media interest and discourses on 'Finnish education' have not relented.…

This study was relational, non-experimental, explanatory, and cross-sectional in nature, using quantitative methods to explain the influence of student, staff, and school independent variables on 6th, 7th , and 8th grade student achievement in both Language Arts and Mathematics on the 2011 NJ ASK. The variable of interest was the length of the…

Although girls and boys perform similarly in the PISA science assessment at age 15, girls are less likely than boys to envision a career in science and engineering, even in countries where they outperform them. Current gender disparities in the labour market will not be addressed by the inflow of new graduates: in all OECD and partner countries,…

According to the Texas Education Code §29.121 and the Houston Independent School District (HISD) Board Policy, Gifted and Talented (G/T) students are "those identified by professionally qualified persons, who perform at, or show the potential for performing at a remarkably high level of accomplishment when compared to others of the same age,…

This study examines gender differences in the variability of student performance in reading, mathematics and science. Twelve databases from IEA and PISA were used to analyze gender differences within an international perspective from 1995 to 2015. Effect sizes and variance ratios were computed. The main results are as follows. (1) Gender…

The effect of learning preferences on reading comprehension and motivation/attitude has been researched thoroughly in the field of education as a new approach to learning. However, these three elements have not been studied simultaneously using the Dunn & Dunn's preferred learning style theory. Therefore, this study aims at analyzing the…

The Programme for International Assessment (PISA) is an important cross-national study of 15-year olds academic achievement. Although it has traditionally been conducted using paper-and-pencil tests, the vast majority of countries will use computer-based assessment from 2015. In this paper, we consider how cross-country comparisons of children's…

In this study, the effectivity of jigsaw method, one of the cooperative learning models, on teaching the concepts related to sense organs and their functions to four-five year-old children in nursery class was analyzed. The study is in the semi-experimental design consisting of experimental and control groups and pretest and posttest. The sample…

This study aimed at investigating the effect of cooperative learning on developing the sixth graders' decision making skill and their academic achievement. The study sample, which was selected randomly, consisted of (46) students and divided into two groups: the experimental group that taught using the cooperative learning strategy and the control…

This article examines the challenges and possibilities for UK policy learning in relation to upper secondary education (USE) across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (NI) within current national and global policy contexts. Drawing on a range of international literature, the article explores the concepts of "restrictive" and…

Background: Complexity models have provided a suitable framework in various domains to assess students' educational achievement. Complexity is often used as the analytical focus when regarding learning outcomes, i.e. when analyzing written tests or problem-centered interviews. Numerous studies reveal negative correlations between the complexity of…

Despite being ranked highly, the 2012 PISA result shows that the M-shape distribution of Taiwanese students is top of the 65 participating countries. This shows that the gap between high and low achievers in Taiwanese schools is the biggest. This paper aims at exploring Taipei's responses to this M-shape phenomenon. It starts from mapping out the…

The purpose of this closely aligned conceptual replication study was to investigate the efficacy of a Tier 2 kindergarten mathematics intervention. The replication study differed from the initial randomized controlled trial on three important elements: geographical region, timing of the intervention, and instructional context of the…

This issue of "ZDM Mathematics Education" focuses on the formative assessment of young children's mathematical thinking, with an emphasis on computer-based approaches drawing upon on cognitive and educational research. The authors discuss several different assessment methods, including clinical interviewing, observation, and testing,…

PISA is an extremely influential large-scale assessment, and its "policy lessons" are being incorporated in a range of nations all over the world. In this paper I argue that not only is PISA influencing policies and practices, but also that "seeing like PISA" is becoming a widespread phenomenon. Globally, education…