Deborah Nelson, Consortium for Policy Research in Education
May 2002
In this brief brief from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education, CPRE research assistant Deborah Nelson explains how school districts that took part in the Third International Math and Science Study-only a few did-have been able to use these results to "benchmark" many aspects of their education programs. For example, "comparative achievement data allowed jurisdictions to rank their performance by global standards...while contextual variables provide broad conclusions about the particular practices of higher achieving nations. TIMSS has thus been a critical tool in highlighting important areas of reform." Still, Nelson explains, in the end any real reforms hinge on the district's own capacity to change its practices in complex and integrated ways. It seems to me this paper is mainly useful to districts wondering whether to participate in future international assessments. You can have a look at it by surfing to www.cpre.org/Publications/rb36.pdf.
