Schools

Sad Smiley

PISA, TIMSS & Co

External Exams

School Autonomy

Private Schools

Computers

Class Size

Equality of Opportunity

Tracking

Religious Education

Covid

Patience

Overview

An analysis of the test performance of German students over time shows a "sad smiley": Performance had risen significantly after the PISA shock in 2000, but a clear downward trend is observable since 2010.

My research using the international student achievement tests such as PISA and TIMSS suggests that school systems play a central role why students in some countries perform much better than elsewhere.

In particular, institutional structures such as external exams, school autonomy, competition from private schools, and tracking contribute a substantial part to the international differences in student achievement and to the equality of opportunity of the school system.

By contrast, the role of spending, class size, and computer endowments is rather limited.

Reforms that terminated compulsory religious education in German schools reduced religiosity of affected students in adulthood and also affected their family and labor-market outcomes.

The Covid school closures have hit low-achieving students particularly hard.

At a more fundamental level, the intertemporal cultural factors patience and risk-taking are important for international differences in student achievement.