Global Assessment, Local Use: How States Use Results From International Large-Scale Assessments of Education in Policy and Practice

Since the late 1990s, international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) have become prominent in American educational discourse. Recently a new phenomenon has emerged, as individual U.S. states have chosen to participate in various ILSAs above and beyond federal commitments to national participation. Yet, there has been almost no systematic exploration of what happens after states participate, particularly with regard to whether or how states use these assessments in the service of education policy and practice. Understanding the use of ILSAs is important given their high costs and their growing popularity and influence. In this project we ask under what conditions do state actors use ILSAs as evidence, and what effect do ILSAs have on education policy and practice at the state level? In this project, Dr. Pizmony-Levy and Dr. Green Saraisky examine the use of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) in educational policy and practice in two states Massachusetts and North Carolina. Both states participated in PISA 2015 (results were released on December 2016), and have participated previously in other cycles of ILSAs. Through in-depth case studies, the researchers seek to understand the ways in which state legislators, state education policy staff and local news media use ILSAs to inform local policy and practice. Drawing on interviews, observations, and content analysis of documents, they hope to illuminate how variation between states affects research use and policy action.,