Over the past ten years the PISA assessment has risen to strategic prominence in the international education policy discourse. Sponsored, organized and administered by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA seems well on its way to being institutionalized as the main engine in the global accountability regime. The goal of this book is to problematize this development and PISA as an institution-building force in global education. It scrutinizes the role of PISA in the emerging regime of global educational governance and questions the presumption that the quality of a nation’s school system can be evaluated through a standardized assessment that is insensitive to the world’s vast cultural and institutional diversity. The book raises the question of whether PISA’s dominance in the global educational discourse runs the risk of engendering an unprecedented process of worldwide educational standardization for the sake of hitching schools more tightly to the bandwagon of economic efficiency, while sacrificing their role to prepare students for independent thinking and civic participation.

Every three years the world awaits the results of the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, the rankings of school systems overseen by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Nations around the world look eagerly and apprehensively to see where their students rank on these tests of competence in, mainly, science, math and reading. This book provides a window into PISA and its power. What exactly is PISA? How are its tests developed? Who takes the test? What countries tend to outperform and which underperform? What do countries learn from PISA? Why is PISA both revered and feared? And, most importantly, does PISA improve education globally? The first PISA, in 2000, included 32 countries. In 2018, nearly eighty nations took part in PISA. That number is expected to double by 2030. This may mean that students in over 80% of the world’s countries will take the PISA exams. This scenario has made PISA more important than ever. This book probes topics and themes related to “the world’s most important exam” and why many view a high PISA ranking—rightly or wrongly—as global education’s seal of approval. Because of this, PISA has been called a disruptor, a test which can trigger major reform in school systems around the world. But is it the PISA rankings that are the real disruptor or the decisions countries make because of their rankings? These decisions often involve systemic changes in teaching and learning which can substantially alter how a country measures and prioritizes its education system.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international achievement measure that assesses 15-year-old student performance in the areas of reading, mathematics, and science literacy in over 70 countries and economies triennially. By presenting an in-depth examination of PISA’s role in education governance and policy discourses, this book provides the reader with a critical analysis of the educational change process within our increasingly global educational policy environment. Exploring the prominent socio-political drivers of large-scale educational reform across the globe, chapter authors examine PISA’s national and global implications from a diverse range of regional contexts. Through the presentation of cross-disciplinary viewpoints and topical issues related to the PISA international survey, this volume explains the degree to which PISA-focused research is linked to national educational policy discourses and international education agendas.

In this unconventional biography, the author recounts the tower's rich history, from its abortive beginnings in 1173 through to its ongoing stabilization today, and examines the various symbolisms that have projected on it throughout the ages.

This is one of six volumes that present the results of the PISA 2018 survey, the seventh round of the triennial assessment. Volume I, What Students Know and Can Do, provides a detailed examination of student performance in reading, mathematics and science, and describes how performance has changed since previous PISA assessments.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an important part of the OECD's Indicator Programme. It collects data and provides comparative indicators of education systems in OECD member and partner countries. PISA provides datasets of outstanding quality regarding samples, instruments and analyses. In addition to its important function for educational monitoring, the PISA datasets are the basis of a wide range of secondary analyses from a number of different scientific perspectives and disciplines. The aim of this book is to make some of the outstanding PISA related research results available for a wider audience. Specifically four research areas will be focused: (1) Content related research; (2) Methodological research; (3) Context related research; (4) Research on trends in PISA. Each part of the book is devoted to one of these areas and will start with an introduction from a leading expert in the field followed by chapters covering research conducted in this field.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is known worldwide for its five-degree lean. The Tower is the Campanile of the Cathedral, which together with the Baptistry and Cemetery form a breath-taking collection of monuments which are regarded as supreme examples of early Renaissance Romanesque architecture. In March 1990 the Tower was closed to the public as it was declared unsafe and close to collapse. A Commission was set up by the Italian Government with the task of developing and implementing stabilization measures. This book begins with a brief description of the history of the Tower and its construction. The reader is then introduced to the huge challenges faced by the Commission in designing and implementing appropriate stabilization measures whilst at the same time satisfying the demanding requirements of conserving a world heritage monument. In particular, two historical studies are described which proved to be most valuable in arriving at suitable stabilization measures. The first was a deduction of the history of inclination of the tower during and subsequent to construction. The results of this study were used to calibrate a sophisticated numerical model of the tower and the underlying very soft ground which proved vital in evaluating the effectiveness of various stabilization schemes. The second study was of measurements of movement made since 1911. This latter study revealed an unexpected mechanism of foundation movement which proved crucial in developing the temporary and permanent stabilization measures and which resulted in the Tower being re-opened to the public in June 2001. The book will appeal to both professionals and students in the fields of Architecture and Civil Engineering. It will also interest specialised audiences of geotechnical engineers and conservation architects. It may also be of wider interest to anyone planning to visit Pisa or who is intrigued as to what caused the Tower to lean and how it was stabilized.

The construction techniques and concepts of the cathedrals of Pisa, Siena and Florence are examined in detail, based on new data and using a methodological architectural diagnostics approach. New detailed surveys, carried out using often advanced tools, together with direct and in-depth inspections to examine all parts of the buildings, have enabled us to identify the building phases and the different construction techniques used over time. The information thereby acquired also formed the basis for a new interpretation of the archival documents. Accordingly, the problems encountered and the solutions adopted in the three cathedrals have been understood: in Pisa the construction of the elliptical dome above the rectangular crossing consisting of six thin pillars below; in Siena the design changes from the first system in the 13th century to the ‘Duomo Nuovo’, and the structural adaptations following earthquakes; the specific construction solutions adopted in Florence during the instability encountered in the construction of the large vaults of the basilican body. The comparison of the three buildings in terms of architectural and construction solutions also revealed unexpected relationships between the construction events of Siena’s Duomo Nuovo and the solutions then used in the large basilican body of Santa Maria del Fiore. The methodology employed has led to an understanding of the actual structure of the three cathedrals, an essential basis for a correct evaluation of the state of conservation of the churches for any restoration work. The book is aimed at scholars of architecture and ancient building structures, graduate and postgraduate students, and architects and engineers who plan architectural conservation and strengthening works for historical buildings.

The OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) examines what students know in reading, mathematics and science, and what they can do with what they know. Volume VI: Are Students Ready to Thrive in an Interconnected World? explores students’ ability to examine issues of local, global and cultural significance; understand and appreciate the perspectives and worldviews of others; engage in open, appropriate and effective interactions across cultures; and take action for collective well-being and sustainable development.