Caution on international test score rankings
By Walt Gardner
Walt Gardner
When South Korea ranked 19th on the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC) after nearly 41 percent of private education spending was on English alone, questions immediately arose regarding the nation’s lackluster finish. Yet a closer look provides an explanation that should put to rest the criticism.
Despite what many people believe, there is little connection between spending and outcomes on test scores. For example, the United States, Norway and Luxembourg, which are the world’s biggest per-student spenders, consistently post unimpressive rankings on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). PISA is administered every three years around the world to measure what 15-year-old students know in math, reading and science.
Moreover, few countries rank high in all areas tested. For example, Japan continued to shine in math and science on PISA, but dropped from fourth to eighth place in vocabulary and comprehensive abilities. The loss was largely due to the country’s rapid digitalization of its intellectual environment, rather than significantly lowered spending alone.
None of this is intended to lull Korea into a state of complacency about how it teaches English. Instead, it is an attempt to put the disappointment into proper context. In this regard, greater attention should be directed to the price paid by Korean students when test scores alone are given inordinate weight. A 2014 poll by the Korea Health Promotion Foundation found 40 percent of respondents listed academic pressure and uncertainty over their futures as their biggest concerns. It’s seen in the number of sleep-deprived and suicidal students.
Seventy-seven percent of the students here already spend an average of 10 hours a week on private tutoring at a cost of $18 billion a year. This percentage is more than double the average rate of private tutoring in countries tracked by the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which sponsors PISA. The question is whether subjecting students to additional hours of tutoring at ever-higher costs is worthwhile when the mental health of students is taken into account.
Rather than obsess over its TOEIC ranking, Korea would be well advised to look at the historical, cultural and economic factors outside its schools for answers. The neediest students may be shortchanged, which in turn is reflected in the country’s overall ranking.
Even if South Korea were somehow able to boost its ranking in English, there’s no assurance students would change their attitude about further study of English. Educators have long known that teachers can teach a subject well, but at the same time teach students to hate the subject in the process. When that happens, it’s a Pyrrhic victory. That’s a lesson still to be learned in Korea.
Walt Gardner writes the Reality Check blog for Education Week.