Abstract:

A comprehensive understanding of the role of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) as promoter of equity the importance that key players attach to this international assessment because they have the power to reconfigure societal discourses. This research aims to understand how PISA and its impact on equity are framed and reinterpreted by central figures in Portugal, especially political decision-makers and the scientific community. To achieve this, we conducted interviews with policymakers and held focus groups with experts in public policy related to equity and PISA. The selected policymakers held office between 2000, during the first round of PISA, and the present day. The experts selected were based on desk research of publications on public policies, educational equity and PISA. In this presentation, we will detail the themes that emerged from the qualitative thematic analysis of the interviews and focus groups on the relationship between PISA and equity in Portugal, as well as the usefulness of instruments such as International Large-Scale Assessments, especially PISA, for monitoring socioeconomic equity.

Keywords:

Socioeconomic equity, PISA, educational equity.