SNP Under Fire as Scottish Education records worst ever ratings
 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016...t-ever-rating/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...itics-39885792 Link added as relevant to discussion. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotlan...itics-39856284

I've not seen anyone pick up on this so I thought I'd start a thread. It seems a pretty serious problem and although it's being said more money is going to spent, do you think that throwing money at education is the way to improve standards? I'm inclined to think an overhaul of the system is needed.

More people from Scotland get into uni than any other part of the UK so they must be doing something right

They only go because it is free :idc:

You have to have the grades to go however remember, therefore how can the Schools be failing? Is this a ploy to expand free schools?.... most likely.

I've not seen any statistics for that so I can't comment and don't feel it is particularly relevant since any such statistcs could include overseas students at Scottish Universities. Your apparent lack of concern for the children being failed is rather sad.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a worldwide study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in member and non-member nations of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance on mathematics, science, and reading. OECD is a European organisation. So I ask you, what possible motivation would they have to expand free schools?

Not sure if more people in Scotland do go to university but it's certainly true that Scotland is the worst country in the UK for admitting kids from poorer backgrounds to uni

http://www.independent.co.uk/student...521.html%3Famp

However he has taken the time to research and compare Scotland and England in relation to how many students go on to higher education so in relation to attainment it is wholly relevant and suggests that in reality it is children in the rest of the UK that are being failed.

However bad Scotland are doing, it's better than we are doing here, where then is the outrage for our failed English children?...

Pisa tests are flawed. They test 15 year olds (and a few other age groups) in irrelevant tests, in a few selected schools across the world
A 15 year old scot would not revise for this irrelevant test, its an important year for them to be focussing on other things like their gcses. Uk and usa never do well either. China, Japan, Shanghai etc always score the highest because they take these tests more seriously than the rest of the world, and they have less conflicting examinations at that age
A uk teacher should, and does, encourage pupils not to take it seriously.

We for the moment are Europe, the motivation is outsourcing they are hacking away at local education authority control so they can reduce costs in teachers, resources and maintenance of schools.

Oh has he, did I miss the link for that?

Who are 'they' the EU?

No seriously guys, education shouldnt be measured by a pisa score, it means feck all
Children from uk are honestly encouraged to not revise or take it seriously.

The point is rather that Scottish standards seem to have dropped significantly from the same tests of previous years.

The SNP seem concerned enough about it to state they are throwing more money into education.

On what do you base your claim that they shouldn't be taken seriously?

Many students who achieve University entry grades in England simply don't go as they can't afford it

15 year olds do not, and should not revise for pisa tests. They will continue to drop forever, I'm surprised the uk are still partaking in them.
Edit: I suppose the data might be interesting for other ages they test
15 year olds however should, and do, focus on their gcses

I say again, on what do you base your claims? You aren't showing me anything to say what you are saying is any kind of fact, for all I know it is just the world according to Withano. :shrug:

Here is a link to the table of scores, just for a bit of perspective.

https://www.theguardian.com/educatio...onal-oecd-pisa

First hand experience. I was forced to take a pisa test lol. There was uproar from students, teachers, and parents, and we were told to not revise.

So that's at your school then. How can you assume it is the same everywhere or that children in other countries taking it do revise? If no one revises its still a balanced test of ability.

Because common sense. A 15 year old has GCSEs to finish coursework in 10+ subjects at the age of 15, comparatively the age of 15 is a quiet year for education in some countries.

We're 10 places ahead of ye :hee:

ETA That was just Maths excuse me.

Number 5 in reading, behind ye in Science though

UK education system isnt great, I feel like it came across that this was my point
Its not
My point is that PISA tests are a ridic way to test education especially at the age of 15

That's great but that's just your opinion unless you can back it up.

You're honestly asking me to back up the fact that kids, teachers, and parents care more for GCSEs than a PISA test? You're just being stubborn.

I never even heard of that test before, I must ask my daughter if any of her class had to do one :think: We have one called The Drumcondra test alright that all primary school students do once a year in English, Irish and maths but that's just a national thing

You are the person claiming the organisation/tests are not viable in some way, I just reported what I read, with a link to it. I'm just asking how you know this. It isn't stubborness it's asking you to back up what you are saying. If you can't just say so. :shrug:

They're not annual, and they're not in every school - every three years. Think your daughter wasnt one of the unlucky ones!

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That's a no you can't back it up then.

I cant find anybody who wrote an article about a kid prioritising their gcse coursework over their pisa score, no.

Besides, wasnt the last pisa test in 2015, and the next in 2018. Why is this even being discussed?

Thank god because she has enough to be studying for and she already put loads of pressure on herself

It was in the news and seems fairly serious.

I know nothing about that test but I know I would be advising my kids not to waste time studying for a test that only makes a statistics list over their Junior Cert (similar to your GCSEs)

I'm not convinced anyone would revise for a standards test of this kind since it isn't curriculum based so it might be unlikely to know what they might ask. I would imagine it's fairly general knowledge but I have no idea personally. My point was just that neither did anyone else talking to me in the thread so how can it be dismissed as not being a viable idea of standards.

A PISA score is simply just that, a PISA score. Education at the age of 15/16 is different across the world. It is a particularly challenging year for the UK. It is not a challenging year for the countries that consistently score high.
The idea that it happens every three years, and only in some schools, is in my opinion, and surely your opinion, dumb.
Some are encouraged to revise by teachers and parents, the UK are obviously not.
You're just missing so much contextualised data. 99.9%+ of children in Singapore are doing the exams in their first language
They are doing it without the stress of conflicting assessments
I honestly think you're being stubborn. If A levels / GCSEs go down significantly, you have an interesting thread. PISA 2015 results have no reflection on Scotland or the UK. They just dont.

The article is from last year, based on information from the year before. Since then they've reformed the new exam system

Yeah that's true too, that test that they do in primary school for similar reasons at a national level, none of them study for

the sample size is 3,000 PER COUNTRY.

And it was all over the news this week with Sturgeon saying we must do better. :shrug: