The Policy Consortium in the UK  has a good overview of the British response to the PISA scores.

Each political party is pointing fingers at the other for the scores not being as high as they would wish.

The Conservatives say it is Labor’s fault.

The Labor party says it is the fault of the Conservatives.

But here are some good takeaways.

“… it is important to attract the most talented teachers to the most challenging classrooms and teacher shortage and disciplinary climate are inter-related.

Moreover, despite what Michael Gove asserts, a qualified teaching force is a key driver of quality and performance, the PISA data shows. Two findings are key here: first, the quality of a school (or college) cannot exceed the quality of its teachers. Second, principals of disadvantaged schools have difficulty attracting well qualified teachers, so students suffer doubly.

And more:

Much has been said in the media about the influx of migrant groups such as the Roma undermining provision for the indigenous population (all part of the attack on the EU by right-wing media). But, again, the PISA report shows this is first and foremost an issue of resources. “The concentration of immigrants in a school is not associated, in itself, with poor performance”, it says.

Nor is it a question of fairness. High-performing school systems tend to allocate resource more equitably across advantaged/ disadvantaged schools. Also, combining high performance with a high degree of equity is possible – it happens in some countries.

Another observation, with which all political parties would claim to be in tune, is that “schools with more autonomy over curricula and assessments tend to perform better when they are part of a school system with greater collaboration between principals and teachers”.

So, rather than sniping across the political garden fence, politicians should try to build a consensus around policy options that improve performance and equity. Four such actions which the PISA report clearly identifies are:

  • targeting low performance regardless of socio economic status
  • targeting disadvantaged pupils through additional resources or finance
  • improving the quality of teaching staff, focusing on time for teachers themselves to learn
  • including marginalised students in mainstream education

And here is another important finding:

From the outset, the need for a good start is clearly identified. For example, the report shows, one year of pre-school improves performance in maths by one year of schooling.

Better staff-student relations are associated with greater student engagement. “Too many students do not make the most of the learning opportunities available to them because they are not engaged with school and learning. Drive, motivation and confidence in oneself are essential if students are to fulfil their potential”.