Treason and Revenge: The Emergence and Continuation of ILSA Contracting
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| Title: | Treason and Revenge: The Emergence and Continuation of ILSA Contracting |
|---|---|
| Language: | English |
| Authors: | Camilla Addey (ORCID |
| Source: | Critical Studies in Education. 2025 66(3):411-428. |
| Availability: | Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals |
| Peer Reviewed: | Y |
| Page Count: | 18 |
| Publication Date: | 2025 |
| Document Type: | Journal Articles Reports - Research |
| Education Level: | Secondary Education Elementary Secondary Education |
| Descriptors: | International Assessment, Contracts, Networks, Educational Assessment, Educational Testing, Social Capital, Cultural Capital, Ethnography, Trust (Psychology), National Competency Tests, Communities of Practice, Educational History, Achievement Tests, Foreign Countries, Secondary School Students, Elementary Secondary Education, Mathematics Tests, Mathematics Achievement, Science Tests, Science Achievement |
| Assessment and Survey Identifiers: | National Assessment of Educational Progress, Program for International Student Assessment, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17508487.2024.2357120 |
| ISSN: | 1750-8487 1750-8495 |
| Abstract: | OECD and IEA International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) contractors have remained largely invisible despite playing a key role in the making of education assessment data. With the help of Bourdieu's thinking, this paper analyses data generated through document analysis of ILSA Reports and in-depth interviews with staff working on ILSAs at the IEA, the OECD and ILSA contractors. The paper traces education assessment developments in the USA and at the IEA and the OECD since the 1980s, and points to the critical role of Education Testing Services (ETS). Although the selection of ILSA contractors ostensibly occurs through a globally competitive tendering process, this paper reveals the pressures and struggles that emerged when economic capital became available at the IEA and the OECD. The struggles reveal PISA was created as a competing project to TIMSS. The paper demonstrates how the social and cultural capitals that individuals acquired, and in particular trust, shaped who can and who cannot produce ILSA data today. Overall, the paper makes visible the ILSA data chefs and their recipes: ILSAs are not raw, they are cooked under pressure with personal and organizational tensions, struggles, conflicts, and emotional bonds. |
| Abstractor: | As Provided |
| Entry Date: | 2026 |
| Accession Number: | EJ1493726 |
| Database: | ERIC |
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| Abstract: | OECD and IEA International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) contractors have remained largely invisible despite playing a key role in the making of education assessment data. With the help of Bourdieu's thinking, this paper analyses data generated through document analysis of ILSA Reports and in-depth interviews with staff working on ILSAs at the IEA, the OECD and ILSA contractors. The paper traces education assessment developments in the USA and at the IEA and the OECD since the 1980s, and points to the critical role of Education Testing Services (ETS). Although the selection of ILSA contractors ostensibly occurs through a globally competitive tendering process, this paper reveals the pressures and struggles that emerged when economic capital became available at the IEA and the OECD. The struggles reveal PISA was created as a competing project to TIMSS. The paper demonstrates how the social and cultural capitals that individuals acquired, and in particular trust, shaped who can and who cannot produce ILSA data today. Overall, the paper makes visible the ILSA data chefs and their recipes: ILSAs are not raw, they are cooked under pressure with personal and organizational tensions, struggles, conflicts, and emotional bonds. |
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| ISSN: | 1750-8487 1750-8495 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/17508487.2024.2357120 |
