Ed: I couldn’t leave this lingering below a previous post on Pisa and Scottish schools.
Alasdair Macdonald
In 1929, the philosopher, Alfred North Whitehead, wrote about what he decried as ‘inert ideas’:
“Theoretical ideas should always find important applications within the pupil’s curriculum. This is not an easy doctrine to apply, but a very hard one. It contains within itself the problem of keeping knowledge alive, of preventing it from becoming inert, which is the central problem of all education.”.
Here we are, nearly a hundred years later and still putting overwhelming emphasis on ‘knowing the facts’.
Indeed, even earlier, in the 19th Century, in “Hard Times”, Dickens created the character, Gradgind:
“Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of any service to them.”
This what PISA and SATs and all these other pub quiz type of examinations are about. What PISA, et al are about is to provide an instrument of BLAME. Blaming is the raison d’etre of our media, and many of our politicians. Because we all know, don’t we, that once we have blamed somebody the problem has been solved. Wee Wuggie and The most boring man in the world Gray and silly mid-off Liz Smith are all blamers.
Is there not a FACT about empty vessels and noise?
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
This perspective on the most recent PISA scores for the USA appeared in Forbes magazine: ‘PISA Scores Are Out. Ours Are Not Great. So What?’
(https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/12/03/pisa-scores-are-out-ours-are-not-great-so-what/#1e2734aa5e84 )
It seems there is also a lot of hand wringing in the US each time the PISA results are published.
The author of the Forbes article argues: ‘PISA coverage tends to overlook one major question—why should anyone care about these scores? Where is the research showing a connection between PISA scores and a nation’s economic, political, or global success? What is the conclusion to the statement, “Because they get high PISA scores, the citizens of [insert nation here] enjoy exceptionally good______” ?’
‘Did US companies outsource work to India and China because of their citizens’ PISA scores, or because of low wages and loose regulation? Do we have the world’s most expensive health care system because of mediocre PISA scores? Which politicians have ridden to success on the PISA score platform pony? Are any geopolitical conflicts solved by whipping out the contending countries’ PISA scores for comparison? And is there a shred of evidence that raising PISA scores would improve life for US citizens (spoiler alert: no)?’
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PISA scores are computer generated from an algorithm from a snapshot of 15 year olds in participating countries. The final score is not based solely on actual pupils sitting chewing their pencil in an exam hall but takes into account responses to questionnaires completed by pupils, parents and schools.
The PISA scores for Science in Scotland have shown little variation from one PISA set to the next until 2018 when they dropped slightly. Interestingly the overall OECD PISA average in Science also fell which suggests that either someone tweaked the algorithm or the participating countries have suffered some sort of collective breakdown in their Science teaching. In fact the overall average for Science has been on a downward trajectory since 2012 and the UKs results have followed that trend.
https://data.oecd.org/pisa/science-performance-pisa.htm
The PISA process, and the emphasis placed on it in some countries eg S. Korea, has come in for increasing criticism.
In Scotland opposition politicians and commentators use the scores as a means of attacking the Scottish Government but seem to have, conveniently, forgotten that between 2000 and 2006 the PISA scores in Reading went from526 to 499 and in Maths from 533 to 506 and in Science from 522 to 515 which is probably not a statistically significant drop unlike the fall in the other two subjects. Since 2009 the scores have been more or less stable which the OECD acknowledged in its 2015 report into Scottish Schools.
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Aye, there’s no scarcity of MacGladrinds in Scotland . Their clan motto is “Facts are chiels that winnae ding” .
The reality is that “facts ” frequently ding to orders from above . Now there’s a fact not dinging to order .
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Given the Ukanian parties’ oft’ stated desire to continue to improve Scotland’s education then we can be certain (can’t we?) that these very vocal britnat MSPs will vote for the Scottish budget currently presented in the Scottish Part (with its very generous (given Westminster’s austerity obsession) provisions made for the education and skills sector): Link and snippets below:
https://news.gov.scot/news/education-and-skills-funding-rises-to-gbp-3-57-billion
Education and skills funding will rise 1.7% in real terms to £3.57 billion, under the proposed Budget 2020-21.
Mr Swinney said: “To help close the attainment gap and improve attainment, we will again invest £182 million to the Attainment Scotland Fund. This includes £120 million in Pupil Equity Funding to be spent at the direction of head teachers, while teacher pay is increasing.”
Alongside funding delivered through the local government settlement, he said almost £645 million will go into the expansion of Early Learning and Childcare to provide 1,140 hours per child per year from this August – almost double the current entitlement and the most generous in the UK – benefitting children and allowing parents and carers to explore work, education or training opportunities.
The college sector also receives an above-inflation resource spending increase of 3.6% to train or upskill Scotland’s workforce, while the university sector receives a real-terms funding uplift to maintain the country’s position as a world leader in learning, science and innovation – particularly important in the context of the UK’s departure from the EU.
The 2020-21 Scottish Budget also includes:
• a 35.9% rise in the teacher training budget to £21.69 million
• teachers’ pay to increase by a minimum of 13% over 3 years, bringing the starting salary for a fully qualified teacher to £32,994 from April 2020, significantly higher than elsewhere in the UK
• a real-terms increase in the skills and training budget, supporting the drive to increase the number of apprenticeships
• Skills Development Scotland to receive a 4.7% rise in budget to £224.8 million, including to ensure apprenticeship opportunities are open to all
• a 17.8% rise in the Scottish Childrens’ Reporter Administration to £27.4 million
• child protection spending to rise 24% to £2.1 million
• looked-after children spending to rise to £32.4 million, including improving the Adoption Register
• a 62.1% rise in the Family Fund Trust
• Gaelic receiving a 7.3% rise in spending to £25.2 million
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