The latest IEA Compass: Briefs in Education (also known as Compass Briefs), authored by Aidan Clerkin and Emer Delaney from the Education Research Centre in Ireland discusses how data from international large-scale assessments can inform national education policy.
The Compass Brief delves into the challenges that were highlighted through Ireland’s participation in large-scale assessments such as TIMSS and PIRLS. These insights kick-started education policy reform which the authors discuss in the brief and a dedicated Podcast episode of Large-scale Assessments in 15 minutes.
Key points from the brief and podcast include:
- The key events that took place to initiate the connection between using data from large-scale assessments and policy reform.
- Providing examples where data from large-scale assessments has led to significant changes in educational practices.
- How the data has been incorporated into upcoming educational policies and strategies in Ireland.
- The importance of monitoring student achievement in digital literacy for future educational strategies.
Author, Emer Delaney comments in the podcast:
Participation in TIMSS 2011 helped highlight how old Ireland’s curriculum was, the findings informed the details of curriculum redevelopment. In Ireland weakness in geometry and shape was found in TIMSS assessments leading to giving more emphasis on these subjects in the curriculum redevelopment.
Author, Aidan Clerkin contributes to the podcast discussion:
The new National Strategy will continue to use LSA data from PIRLS and TIMSS to monitor changes in reading and mathematics achievement...There is an explicit focus on student attitudes and increasing motivation toward reading and learning mathematics.
Read the full Compass Brief here and listen to the podcast here.