The seven papers in this issue address a variety of challenges that parents in several different cultural places encounter as they do their best to ensure their children's safe, happy, and successful development from infancy through middle childhood: infant sleep, developmental agendas, temperament, preschools, academic success, and learning to be…

This article is a commentary on Australia's involvement in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) tests. It provides a rationale for Australia's participation in the PISA programme, the influences of PISA involvement on education policies and practices, and considerations and implications for school leaders and education…

This article, written as a memo to the author's friend in response to an earlier conversation, compares the American education system with that of Japan. First, the author examines cultural differences between Japan and America as a lens through which to look at these two countries. Then, Japanese and American schooling are compared in terms of…

In all countries traditional sex roles are an important determinant of the education males and females receive or choose. (Author)

Although evaluation practice in Israel is strongly influenced by American thinking, it is also a unique local response to societal, political, academic, cultural, and interpersonal pressures. In this interview Arieh Lewy discusses educational evaluation in Israel and the cultural context in which it operates. (Author/BS)

Educational Testing Service's (ETS) international testing of student achievement (1988) was supported by politicians seeking simple answers, but results were badly flawed and pointless. ETS emphasized global comparisons among countries on a single achievement scale, using an arbitrary formula heavily weighted toward computation; actual questions…

A former member of the IEA's global "invisible college" reflects on some aspects of the organization's work and findings, pointing out that international differences in achievement are generally smaller than within-nation differences and that national differences in context and input are associated with broadly similar outcomes. Also…

This report provides international benchmarks to help states see how students are doing in math and science within an international context. It shows how state-by-state results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) can be linked with nation-by-nation results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study…

Points out the fallacies in some of the current notions about the academic abilities of today's students and presents data to support a more positive view of public education and student achievement. (WD)

The 1983 report "A Nation At Risk" catapulted teaching and learning issues to the forefront of public concern. However, In spite of the findings of the National Commission on Excellence in Education, U.S. students and college graduates continue to fare well when their knowledge is tested postgraduation, and there is no evidence of a…

Shifting focus from typical data and information about the status of educational achievement in the United States and about gaps in achievement among the nation's students, this report undertakes investigation of less-frequently-asked questions. As required by the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), educators are continuously monitoring whether more…

In the knowledge-based economy that characterizes the 21st century, most previously industrialized countries are making massive investments in education. The United States ranks poorly on many leading indicators, however, primarily because of the great inequality in educational inputs and outcomes between White students and non-Asian…

Discusses the limitations of crossnational comparisons of secondary student performance in the U.S. and selected European and Pacific industrial countries, using mathematics and science data from the International Assessment for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Suggests the most serious problem is the rise of a new educational…

The implications of international assessments in setting world-class performance standards are explored. Possible uses of recent international assessments as benchmarks against which to compare the achievement of U.S. students are illustrated. Characteristics of international assessments that affect their usefulness as benchmarks are discussed.…

Inferences that might be made from international educational assessments are discussed, considering issues of popular definition and sampling, assessment exercises, background variables, and statistical analyses. International assessments do tell something about academic achievement, but other approaches may provide more cost-effective information…