Steering the National: Exploring the Education Policy Uses of PISA in Spain

Abstract

This article presents findings from a recent study of the education policy uses and impact of international large-scale assessments, namely the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The paper focuses on two overlapping dimensions of PISA’s education policy use in the context of Spain. These include political dimensions, such as the use of PISA to initiate and justify the 2012−2013 educational reforms; and technical dimensions, namely the use of PISA in the development of national-level indicators used to benchmark progress and guide education and curriculum reform. The study points to the growing dominance of PISA as a powerful policy tool. Findings from the paper add to the body of literature on the different ways in which international assessments are used to guide education policy within national spaces and the role of the OECD as an agent of transnational policy steering.

Notes

¹There has been a growth in subnational participation in PISA studies both as separate systems/economies (e.g., Shanghai, China) and as participants both within the national sample and as separate entities/systems through boosted sampling (Engel & Frizzell, 2015). The PISA 2012 results included a league table of both regional and national entities in ranked order based on their average scores (OECD, 2012). There has been similar subnational participation in TIMSS.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by a research seed grant from the American Consortium on EU Studies (ACES) for the project “European policy uses of international comparisons of academic achievement.”