Two recent (2003) international surveys of schooling at attainments: EnglandÕs problem

The two recent (2003) international surveys of pupils' attainments were uncoordinated, overlapped considerably, were costly and wasteful, especially from the point of view of England where inadequate response-rates meant that no reliable comparisons at all could be made with other countries. Sources of the problem are investigated in this paper and suggestions made for improvements in possible future surveys.