OECD Representative to Meet with Howard County Public School Leaders

February 21st, 2017

Visit part of international tour assessing benefits of PISA-aligned assessment

Tue Halgreen, an analyst with the international Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), will visit the Howard County Public School System (HCPSS) on Tuesday, February 21, to share experiences and insights with school system leaders regarding use of the OECD Test for Schools.

The OECD Test is aligned to the organization’s well-known PISA (Programme for Student Assessment) test, which ranks nations in educational achievement. The test allows individual schools to compare their performance against that of the PISA-ranked nations.

“Fulfilling the promise of preparation means we must prepare students to compete for the best opportunities in a global economy,” said Superintendent Renee A. Foose. “The OECD Test is a unique benchmark that shows how well our instructional program stacks up to the best in the world, and identifies areas where we can improve.”

The Superintendent’s FY 2018 budget proposal includes funding for HCPSS’s second test administration in February 2018.

In February 2014, HCPSS was among the first school districts in the nation to administer the OECD Test for Schools to all of its schools. Results of that initial assessment, which included a random sampling of 15-year-olds in each high school, showed most HCPSS high schools performing as well as, or better than, the world’s leading nations in educational performance in math, reading, and science.

The test also offers insight into “soft” factors that directly influence academic achievement but are not evaluated through other assessments. These include how well students can apply their knowledge to solve problems and their perspectives on school climate, relationships with teachers, and the relevance of their coursework to future success.

HCPSS has leveraged the results from its initial OECD Test to improve curricular programs in specific content areas and at individual schools with customized action plans.

Media are invited to observe the meeting, which takes place Tuesday, February 21 from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Department of Education, 10910 Clarksville Pike, Ellicott City.