The PISA scores came out and the kids in Shanghai outscored everyone. Now before you get all excited, there are some things that still raise a red flag. I am willing to say these kids are good if the follow up data proves it. But with the record of China on many things, I want to see the results in full first.
Out of a city of 20 million people, 15,000 students took the PISA, which is an international standardized test. Now the kids are suppose to be a cross section, so some smart kids and some kids who would rather be playing video games, are suppose to take the test. Those of us who have done business with China, know how much the Chinese love to prost big numbers to look impressive. We also know they love to save face and if that means bending the rules, they will bend the rules. And this is where I have an issue with the test.
I would love to see the background on the students to ensure they truly are a cross section of the student population. If not, then we have a problem. China is left to pick the students so I really do wonder if someone decided to stack the deck. I’ve seen this so often in business and government works projects with China, why not in education! So I am not buying these test numbers until real data on the backgrounds of the students, is published or we get third party results demonstrating this was legit.
