The relevance of international space of education in grown over the years thanks to the many devices produced by large surveys that have become the new socio-technical actors at European and global level. Since the Sixties (IEA first and OCDE afetr) the big surveys produce data even more “bigger”, articulated and differentiated conditioning visions, cultures and choices in the educational field.

Large survey mobilize considerable economic resources of the countries participating, complex networks of expertise, a growing set of investigation methods (for data collection and analysis), multiplying the economic and political interests.

In the various waves of these surveys are involved hundreds of thousands people (teachers, students, school principals, families), they are subjected to hundreds of thousands of questionnaires; also it is involved a large number of experts and researchers from different disciplines (including education and pedagogy, information technology, economics, sociology). Large volumes of data are processed, stored, analyzed and used to classify individuals and countries, to show trends, similarities and highlight differences within and between countries.

While in the past century education it has been dominated by the "big theories" (the Durkheimian idea of “sacred education”, the functionalist approach, theories of human capital and rational choice ecc.) in the latter part of the century (since the 60s) reflection has shifted on "big numbers" and quantities.

The "Big data" of education take the place of theories, “talking” in their place. But the data "speak"? And what do they say? What theories are embedded in the larger survey?

In LSA-Large Scale Assessment, the two most important networks in the world are IEA and OECD. The first, born in the late '50s,  has fielded several inquiries including the most important as PIRLS and TIMSS (the first concerns the reading literacy, the second dealing with mathematics and science). The OECD education network has emerged since the nineties of the last century and now produces three major surveys: PISA (mat, science and reading), PIACC (adult literacy and numeracy), TALIS (teachers and head teachers practices). The paper presented here has the following objectives.

1) To investigate the trajectories of the two networks and analyze differences and similarities. What are the controversies, evident and hidden, involving the two major networks IEA and OECD?

2) To see closely the composition of the network OECD and IEA to analyze the methodological differences, conceptualizations, purpose, networks of actors and perspectives.

3) To investigate the cultural background which underlies the survey "LSA - Large Scale Assessment" in education. The hypothesis to be verified is that while OECD incorporates methods, conceptions, implicit theories of human capital and from the economy of education, IEA incorporates disciplinary topics related to pedagogy and docimology that preserves intent of academic research aimed to know the results of learning curricula in schools.

4) To investigate the roles and the effects of LSA in terms of comparison, ranking, classification, evidence-based trans-national policies.

5) To investigate the technological infrastructures through which the LSA surveys are carried out, the socio-technical objects produced and used, in order to reflect on symbolic and material infrastructures.

5) Finally, investigate how the LSA contribute to the construction of international space of educational. Between the various devices that have occurred over the years, such as those have acquired a hegemonic position and to what aim? These big amounts of data (the “Big Data” of education) make more solid or more problematic the various analysis in the educational field? How, and with such rhetoric, the two networks incorporate in their framework the theme of the economic crisis and the role of educational in the present historical context?

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