Immigrant Student Investigation in PISA 2006: A Call for a More Nuanced Examination

Author(s):

Steve SongPeter Robert

Conference:

ECER 2009

Network:

9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement

Format:

Paper

Session Information

09 SES 06 C, International Large-Scale Assessments: Heterogeneity Issues

Paper Session

Time:

2009-09-29

10:30-12:00

Room:

HG, Elise Richter

Chair:

Renate Schulz-Zander

Contribution

Reports using past PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2006 data have suggested that in many of the OECD countries, immigrant students are underperforming in comparison to their non-immigrant peers. In general, with the exception to few countries like Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, immigrant students have, on average, shown lower math, reading, and science scores at age 15 than their non-immigrant counterparts (OECD, 2006). According to the European Commission, students of immigrant backgrounds are, on average, one or two years behind their native-born peers (Eurydice, 2004). In addition, in some countries, such as Austria, Germany, and New Zealand, it has been cited that the second-generation immigrant students even underperform first-generation arrivals (OECD, 2006). With the rapidly increasing number of immigrant students throughout Europe, these disturbing findings have drawn much attention to how well various immigrant-receiving countries are addressing the needs of their immigrant student population. But how accurate are these findings? Do these results really help scholars and policymakers compare across various OECD countries, or are there some weaknesses in the way in which immigrant student data are gathered and analyzed to make some countries appear more or less effective in their incorporation of their immigrant-student population? The purpose of this paper is to highlight some notable measurement shortcomings in the way in which OECD has investigated the outcomes of immigrant students and to suggest possible remedies.

Method

In our paper, we use the data available from OECD's PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) 2006.

Expected Outcomes

In this paper, we have focused on PISA and their analysis of immigrant students in many of the major immigrant-receiving countries. Specifically, we have argued that there are three significant weaknesses in which PISA 2006 data were collected and analyzed to give an incomplete or biased picture of how immigrant students in various OECD countries are faring. These weaknesses stem from 1) how immigrant students are selected or categorized, 2) the language in which the subject tests were administered, and 3) the way in which the first and second generation immigrant students are grouped. We address each of these concerns and suggest possible ways of addressing them.

References

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Author Information

Steve Song

University College Dublin

The Geary Institute

Dublin

Peter Robert

University College Dublin, Ireland (Republic of)

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