What are the benefits and challenges of International Assessments and Frameworks?

Here is advice I gave recently to the question, "What are the benefits and challenges of using international frameworks for educational quality and equity?"

Benefits of international frameworks

International frameworks and their associated assessments can help spark competition, which is rare in the public sector. This in turn can be motivation for improvement. Also, by using an international framework that is standardized, it can help be able to use curriculum and content from others. But, there are also potential issues with using international frameworks.

Challenges of international frameworks

International frameworks show how a country is comparing to the status quo, but they can hinder true innovation, because by definition, innovation is different from current standards.

For example, most international math assessments (e.g. TIMSS) and their frameworks, don't include relevant number theory and logic that is critical to computer science, such as Boolean Algebra (e.g. AND, OR, XOR) nor numbering systems (e.g. binary and hexadecimal). And instead are wed to the math for 20th century rocket scientists.

So a country that wanted to get ahead economically by gaining an expertise in computer science, and so changes their math curricula to focus on the topics listed above, would be penalized by current international assessments.

How to use international frameworks effectively

Countries and educational institutions can most effectively use frameworks by first considering what the real world needs, and what will be best for the students. Preferably this will be done with rigorous methods looking at the job market, etc.

After having a good view of what is important for students to learn, then evaluate the frameworks to see how they compare. You can use the parts of frameworks that work, and not use the other pieces. Although, if you are part of international assessments based on the framework, or they are part of accreditation, etc., then picking and choosing is not much of an option. In either case, your school and country will ultimately be judged on student results in life, not on a test.

Here’s what else to consider

Since international frameworks are often tied to assessments, we need to be careful with those assessments. For instance, a PISA sample question on cow cloning assumes cloned calves will have the same genes, gender, and color. While the first two assumptions are correct, the last is not guaranteed. Cloning doesn't always yield identical color, as evidenced by cat owners who had their beloved deceased cat cloned and then were surprised to find the clone differed in color from their original pet.

If a student with this knowledge answered "no" for color, they'd be marked wrong, even though the PISA question itself is flawed. Such inaccuracies can skew results and impact policies. So always take results with a "grain of salt".