Assessing the Quality and Equality of Hong Kong Basic Education Results from PISA 2000+ to PISA 2006

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine the quality and equality of basic education of Hong Kong based on the first three cycles of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results from these three assessments suggested that the Hong Kong students have an outstanding performance in mathematics, science and reading. In particular, the performance of reading improves substantially in PISA 2006. As far as equality in education is concerned, the achievement gap of students from different socio-economic backgrounds in Hong Kong is relatively small compared with other countries. However, the academic performance variation between-schools suggest that, there is still academic segregation among secondary schools in Hong Kong although it has been reduced slightly in the PISA 2006.

Keywords

Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) / quality of education / equality in education / international assessment