Comparing Elephants and Bananas in Educational Achievements: What Do Data Reveal?

Abstract

The problem of functional illiteracy emerged in the Bulgarian society when the results of the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA test) were announced. Until then it was not aware of such a deficit. The national external assessment of students’ educational achievements did not give any signs of a pervasive systemic deficit in the Bulgarian education. A comparison of the two tests’ scores however reveals a considerable discrepancy. Looking at the tests’ metadata, it becomes obvious the comparison is between elephants and bananas and that explains the inconsistency. This paper compares the two datasets of students’ scores and the tests’ measuring methodologies. It further concludes that the national system fails to adapt to the needs of a changing society. However, it has an important ally in the face of the civil society, which provides its own resources to satisfy learning needs.