OECD and PISA. The Dream of Global Governance in Education: call for papers

Thematic Dossier: OECD and PISA. The Dream of Global Governance in Education

Guest Editors: Elsa Estrela, Vítor Rosa & Vítor Duarte Teodoro

Large international surveys such as PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) or TALIS (Teaching and Learning International Survey), although recent in their implementation, have become one of the main technologies of governance in the fields of education and training, influencing policy makers, school managers and the media.

In line with the increase in the number of countries participating in these surveys, the number of organisations responsible for their operationalisation, management and implementation has also been growing and currently includes an extensive network of public and private actors, among which, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). This dimension of global governance, in its role as shaper of educational policies and international mediator of knowledge and articulated to the exercise of a particular type of regulation has, nevertheless, been questioned by a vast international critical literature.

Within this general framework, the Revista Lusófona de Educação is launching a call for papers for the thematic dossier OECD and PISA. The Dream of Global Governance in Education that problematizes the issue of large-scale international assessments and, in particular, the role of PISA, in its relationship with policy-making and educational change, contemplating the following four axes of analysis:

  1. Big Science, Big Data and the International Large-Scale Surveys (ILSA) in Education
  2. The influence of ILSA (PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS and TALIS) on teacher education, examinations and school practices
  3. Literacy, PISA and the regulation of education policies
  4. Media agenda and stakeholders’ discourse on PISA

Languages in which the texts are presented: Portuguese, English, Spanish and French

Important Dates:

  • Submission date: until 28 January 2022;
  • Evaluation date: until 28 February 2022;
  • Publication date: 1st semester 2022.

Authors must submit a proposal between a minimum of 30 000 and a maximum of 40 000 characters (with spaces, including abstracts in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French), graphs, charts, images, endnotes, and bibliographical references up to a maximum of 25: revistas.ulusofona.pt/index.php/rleducacao/about/submissions.

Each article should be sent to: rlepisa@gmail.com

All papers will be submitted to the journal’s Editorial Board and subject to a blind review. However, the invited editors reserve the right to make the final decisions regarding publication. Seven papers will be selected for this thematic dossier.

Meeting of researchers and consultants of the PISA_PT Project


It was held, on November 8, 2021, another working meeting that brought together the researchers and consultants of the PISA_PT Project.

At the meeting, held in a face-to-face and online format, the team made a balance of the activities developed in the various tasks of the project and of the scientific production, including reports, articles, book chapters, and books already published and to be published. It was also discussed the program of the project’s final Conference, which should take place in February 2022, and that we will announce here, soon.

Logo do cabeçalho da páginaVítor Rosa published a new article in the Portuguese Journal Revista Portuguesa de Investigação Educacional entitled PISA and financial literacy: the results of Portugal.

This article analyzes the 2018 results of the Financial Literacy of the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

This international large-scale assessment traditionally focuses on reading, math and science literacy, and more recently includes collaborative problem solving and financial literacy. The analysis was performed from the known global data of the countries participating in PISA, but with a particular focus at the data from Portugal.  The results show that, for the most part, young Portuguese seem to be reasonably prepared to actively respond to financial challenges. However, regional asymmetries are observed.