Postsocialist Transformations, Everyday School Life, and Country Performance in PISA: Analysis of Curriculum Education Reform in Latvia and Estonia

P. 85–103.

Khavenson T.

Using a natural experiment situation, this chapter describes the process of curriculum reform in Russian-medium schools in Latvia and Estonia. The research question focuses on whether those curriculum reforms were successful from the perspective of schools’ interiorisation of new curriculum and PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) performance improvement. Using the three-layered curriculum approach (intended, implemented and attained curriculum), this chapter analyses how the intentions of the laws and other reform-related documents were implemented in everyday school practice and are reflected in attained educational results. To address this issue, a series of in-depth interviews in Russian-medium schools, in conjunction with the PISA 2003 2012 trends analysis, were conducted. The results showed that intended and attained curricula have grown closer in both countries. Schools actively implement proposed reforms in teaching, and PISA performance has been constantly improving, showing that the attained curriculum is approaching what was intended, though this process is different in the two countries.

Keywords: education policy, Estonia, Latvia, education reforms, PISA, curriculum design, Baltic states

Publication based on the results of: The characteristics of teachers and schools, educational results of students and the choice of educational trajectories in the context of social inequality (2018)

In book

Comparing Post-Socialist Transformations: purposes, policies, and practices in education

Oxford: Symposium Books, 2018.