Invited Symposium: The PISA Science Assessments and the Implications for Science Education : Uses and Abuses

• In 2015, science will be the major focus of PISA. Consequently, the framework for the science assessment was rewritten in 2012. This symposium will begin with a presentation of that framework by Jonathan Osborne, the chair of the science expert group who will provide an explanation of the changes and possible improvements from the 2006 framework. In addition in 2015, all of the assessments will be undertaken on a computer-based platform that has consequences for the form and type of testing. This presentation will be followed by three presentations that take a critical look at the major social and political impact that PISA is having on education systems, schools and the learning of science. Svein Sjøberg will argue that PISA should be seen in a political and cultural context, and as an instrument of power. He will claim that PISA has led to a global race, and that many countries use PISA to legitimize neoliberal school reforms that are detrimental to the values usually promoted by educators. In contrast, Magnus Oskarsson and Margareta Serder will look at the effects of PISA in one country – Sweden. Oskarsson will argue that the PISA results provide one external indicator and measure of the performance of the system. In Sweden performance has declined significantly in comparison to other countries and the divergence between high and low performers increased. As such it provides a useful contrast to internal measures which portray a different picture. Finally, Serder will finish by presenting a study that has explored how groups of 15 year-old students from an average comprehensive school interpret the PISA items and construct responses. Her findings cast doubts on the validity and comparability across countries.

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