International Tests, National Assessments, and Educational Development (1970–2012)

Abstract

Recent decades have seen rapid growth of national participation in international tests as well as expanded national assessment testing. This article addresses the relationship between these forms of testing and educational developments: educational enrollments, women’s participation in schooling, repetition rates, student centrism in the curriculum, and the breadth of the curriculum. From a critical perspective, the obsession with international and national assessment testing might be linked to lower enrollments, higher repetition rates, and a narrowing of curricula. We use panel regression models with country fixed effects to examine these relationships. Our findings do not support these dire predictions. We offer an alternative interpretation that situates the global testing regime within a broader world educational culture that favors both a technocratic approach to assessing learning and such progressive educational outcomes as expanded access and broader curricula.