In 2023 IEA was delighted to release the results for two IEA studies, PIRLS 2021 and ICCS 2022.
20 Years of PIRLS
The international data release from the PIRLS 2021 International Results in Reading marked not only the fifth cycle of the Progress in International Reading Literacy but also 20 years of PIRLS trends.
International Report and Findings
The international report serves as a fundamental resource for educators, policymakers, and researchers worldwide to monitor educational recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Colleagues from IEA and The TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College presented the international results, and a panel discussion with four PIRLS-participating country representatives discussing what countries can learn from PIRLS followed. Key findings included:
- Home support has a substantial impact on reading achievement.
- More students are in a supportive school environment
- Higher average reading achievement and more positive attitudes tend to exist in mutually reinforcing relationship
Dirk Hastedt was delighted to present the results of PIRLS 2021 to the Council of the European Union and reflect on the findings illustrating the importance of reading. Andrea Netten was honored to speak at the national release of the PIRLS 2021 results for the United Arab Emirates.
The international release was followed by the international database containing a rich array of fourth grade achievement and contextual open-access data in SPSS, SAS, and R.
Results from PIRLS 2021 revealed significant declines in reading achievement. IEA released a study entitled School Closure Policies and Student Reading Achievement that examines the effects of school closures on this finding. The data in the study aims to support countries in making more informed decisions in the event of future disruptions to education in the case of pandemics or other events like teacher strikes, or armed conflicts. Discover the findings here.
IEA looks forward to releasing a host of reports in 2024 that dive into the findings from PIRLS 2021.
ICCS 2022
The latter end of 2023 released the results from the third cycle of the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study on 28 November in collaboration with ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research). IEA and the Ministry of Education, Culture, and Science hosted the release in the Hague, hearing from the Minister of Education, ICCS 2022 Study Director, Wolfram Schulz, and country representatives from Italy and the Netherlands. Key insights include:
- Civic knowledge did not increase across countries that participated in 2016 and 2022.
- Female students demonstrated higher civic knowledge than male students.
- Students from homes with a higher socio-economic status demonstrated higher average civic knowledge than students with a lower socio-economic background.
- Civic knowledge tended to be positively associated with a broad range of attitudes and engagement indicators.
There is also a new Teacher Snippet that delves into a new focus area in ICCS. ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) teaches the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes learners require to take informed actions for the environment and society. The data reported also highlights how student-centered learning activities can benefit wider communities. Read the international report and Teacher Snippet here. The IDB Database and User Guide will be released in February.
Save the date for the ICCS European Report Release on Thursday, 22 February.