Using the Results of a National Assessment of Educational Achievement

Abstract

More than years of schooling, it is learning, or the acquisition of cognitive skills, that improves individual productivity and earnings, with gains for aggregate income in the economy. It has been shown, for example, that a one standard deviation increase in student scores on international assessments of literacy and mathematics competencies is associated with a two percent increase in annual growth rates of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita. Measuring student learning outcomes is increasingly recognized as necessary, not only for monitoring a school system's success but also for improving education quality. Student achievement information can be used to inform a wide variety of education policies, including the design and implementation of programs to improve teaching and learning in classrooms, the identification of lagging students so that they can get the support they need, and the provision of appropriate technical assistance and training to low-performing teachers and schools. The use of assessment results in order to improve student learning is a critical challenge for developing countries. Few of these countries measure student learning levels on a regular basis or in a systematic manner, and those that do tend not to use the results to inform their education policies. Yet better education policies have the potential to promote significant increases in cognitive skills. If developing countries are truly to achieve education for all, they will need assistance both with measuring their student learning levels and with finding ways to translate this information into effective education policies and practices. This book will be a valuable support to those efforts. It brings together, for the first time, much of the existing research on what actually works in translating data from national assessments into actionable information and how to bring together stakeholders in conversations about this information in ways that will improve education quality and student learning. The book seeks to maximize an appreciation for the value of national data on student learning and to assist countries in fully exploiting the information that their assessments yield.