Why Do the Results of Immigrant Students Depend So Much on Their Country of Origin and so Little on Their Country of Destination?

Abstract

In spite of the many criticisms to which PISA can and should be legitimately subjected, it is difficult to deny that this large and highly successful OECD project is a blessing for research in Comparative Education, as it provides strictly comparable data on inputs, processes and results for most educational systems in the world. The outcomes of analyzing these enormous data sets are rather disappointing for those who had expected from it quick and solid adjudications among rival theories.