International Large-Scale Assessments: a problem we can ignore?

This is a presentation I gave to the Department of Science Education, Faculty of Education, at Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok on August 26, 2023. In it I discuss 4 major issues:

• Is China really #1?
• Are PISA tests really comparable?
• Assessment means something different in eastern Asia
• Is effort the same when country reputation is at stake?

the presentation draws on studies I have conducted including:

• Asil, M., & Brown, G. T. L. (2016). Comparing OECD PISA Reading in English to Other Languages: Identifying Potential Sources of Non-Invariance. International Journal of Testing, 16(1), 71-93. https://doi.org/10.1080/15305058.2015.1064431
• Brown, G. T. L., & Gao, L. (2015). Chinese teachers' conceptions of assessment for and of learning: Six competing and complementary purposes. Cogent Education, 2(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2014.993836
• Brown, G. T. L., Hui, S. K. F., Yu, F. W. M., & Kennedy, K. J. (2011). Teachers' conceptions of assessment in Chinese contexts: A tripartite model of accountability, improvement, and irrelevance. International Journal of Educational Research, 50(5-6), 307-320. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2011.10.003
• Brown, G. T. L., & Wang, Z. (2016). Understanding Chinese university student conceptions of assessment: cultural similarities and jurisdictional differences between Hong Kong and China. Social Psychology of Education, 19(1), 151-173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-015-9322-x
• Zhao, A., Brown, G. T. L., & Meissel, K. (2020). Manipulating the consequences of tests: how Shanghai teens react to different consequences. Educational Research and Evaluation, 26(5-6), 221-251. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2021.1963938
• Zhao, A., Brown, G. T. L., & Meissel, K. (2022). New Zealand students’ test-taking motivation: an experimental study examining the effects of stakes. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 29(4), 397-421. https://doi.org/10.1080/0969594X.2022.2101043