Today is the international PISA thorough and rigorous that there is to evaluate the performance of a much of the school population worldwide. The PISA study can achieve wide range of information and analyze the results linking academic factors, socioeconomic, family and institutional. However, only two things seem to have been made clear by squeezing the last week of educational debates that have flooded the public. First, the education of emerging Asian countries and the "archicampeona" Finnish school are the best in the world and second half of the fifteen-year English students do not understand what they read. Is not it a somewhat poor for a study of such magnitude and perspective?
Despite all the attempts that have been squandered English experts determined, to remind us that comparisons are useless when the contexts and societies, including the specific environment of each center are quite different, the force of public opinion remains "erre que erre" comparing and comparing. Perhaps, to everyone's surprise, the little they have in common the students tested by PISA 2006 in Finland and Spain, regardless of age, the number of hours spent in school and on Tuesday night, the favorite program of adolescents is series "Los Serrano" , family successfully exported "English."
Are these lines an attack on the consistency of research in the humanities? No, far from it as well, on the contrary, is a defense. To ensure the reliability of international comparisons, PISA determines the population to be evaluated framing it with the age of the students, ie, with reference to 15 years for all participants, a variable outside the education system. The years of its participants is the variable that allows comparisons between the results obtained. The remaining variables such as school hours, the autonomy of schools or the number of hours of teacher training, for example, are given by the system every country. That is, are a benchmark on which to blame or congratulate when comparing students of the same age the results are different.
PISA data are endowed with an important educational value in the daily work of our schools and for the reflection of the education system. However, numbers out of context, framed in comparative scales and scoring rankings have enhanced a sense of distrust of the English educational system and its educators. We can still learn a lot about the education of our European neighbors, as much as they need us. The fever of the numbers has undertaken with those responsible for education and these, cornered in his office have taken to the streets to hunt for scapegoats: families, parents, resources, organization of schools, percentage of GDP spent on education, lack of training ... While it is fair to remember that, from time to time, organizations and institutions responsible for education in Spain should do an exercise of conscience we have yet to meet the teacher who was helpful to know that Spain has obtained the post 42, or was it 53?, or perhaps it was the 36 ... in PISA 2009. And in the end, "what do all these numbers mean?" been asked on more than one occasion many classmates. It seems that besides the numbers, we need to interpret its meaning. That is the true consistency of research in the humanities.
Congratulations on how well we are already doing
PISA has been especially profound in their study for the analysis of problems related to equity, understood as equality of opportunity in education, and distinguishing the relative variables the socioeconomic heterogeneity within each center, the variables related to socio-economic segregation of the social organization itself. This has allowed accurate differentiation assess the extent to which education systems moderate or reinforce socio-economic factors. For example, in countries like Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria or Germany schooled diversified education systems following different training routes and in this way, students with better results are grouped with students of better results and (what a surprise! ) they show a marked tendency to act in social contexts favored above their average countries. On the other hand, students start school with poor results following different routes and, in turn, come from disadvantaged social backgrounds. In Spain, the effect of socioeconomic status decreases with our comprehensive model. Thus, in our country are not so related the income of the family with the academic performance of students. Today, the challenge is to remain a fair system that improves the performance of all students. Although the media have not echoed these data, there are also reasons to boast of educators and the English educational system.
First, and in relation to autonomy of our sites, Spain is one of the most ambitious countries shown. Innovate, renew the school policy, we take forward plans for evaluation, new models of foreign language learning, methodology, websites and resource banks, new investment for information technology and communications ... Our result in this area is also gold. Congratulations to all those professionals of education, from the classroom, combining his teaching with research. In the words of Martin Marchesi and quality of education in changing times (2001): "the teacher researcher from the reality of his own center makes an effort of creativity, imagination and critical sensibility ". Teaching and research is to generate enthusiasm and confidence in education.
Second, we live in a complicated teachable moment, as it is necessary to combine the great challenges of the future, with the slabs that we carry from the past: high school dropout rate (about 33% of our students do not complete compulsory education) and a low reading skills. Burdens of the past relate to future opportunities may be necessary educational revolution in the present.
Third, we can be pleased by the legislation and efforts of our teachers for the school for all classes open to all students in the world, banishing the topics and concepts of "normality" and brutalize labeled natural and inherent diversity of mankind. Reminiscent of that we can do better, again, congratulations.
Although we must also bow my head and hear the anger
The worst results and we know: our students do not understand what they read. But what we read?, "We read in Spain? "Woman, young, college-educated, living in a big city and read, especially novel . So called the press January 3, the English reader profile reflecting the balance sheet data Development Plan Reading between 2004 and 2007. Students who have obtained the worst results in reading are not able to integrate various parts of a text to identify the main idea, understand a relationship, or to establish the meaning and the relationship between several sentences of text.
It is vital to organize the new educational measures and plans for schools to enhance reading skills of our students. They are, therefore, essential to the life of our facilities: the libraries in classrooms and schools with their plans and outreach activities, dedication to reading in school and outside it, the organization of measures to raise motivation and the desire to read in the early stages, the literary workshops and reading activities throughout the compulsory education stage, reading and indispensable participation of parents in the whole process with joint reading activities parents and children, empowerment of reading all kinds of texts (discursive, argumentative, expository, conversational, informative, literary, propaganda ...) in all areas and the explicit teaching of reading relevant procedures. Let these changes come true with this small assembly from the campaign Read this fashion and media textbook Digital Text.
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