IEA is pleased to announce nine awarded projects from its latest Research and Development (R&D) Call. Congratulations to all awardees!
This fifth call was thematically open, encouraging applicants to recommend innovations and improvements based on their observations of IEA study designs, procedures, and data. The projects, summarized below, span a range of topics, including instrument design, AI-assisted translation, data collection, process data use, and policy-relevant reporting. Depending on scope, projects will run for six to twelve months.
Christian Christrup Kjeldsen, Chair of IEA, states: “I am very pleased that, as a leading research organization, we continue to support research through the R&D Fund. The important results of previously funded projects have set a high bar for expectations for this round of funded work, which I very much look forward to following.”
Dirk Hastedt, Executive Director of IEA, comments: “Advancing research and innovation is a key pillar of IEA's mission. We are proud to be able to support both the continuous improvement of practices and processes, and the talented individuals behind the research from all around the world. I'm excited to see the work that will come out of this fifth call.”
Since 2021, IEA has invited proposals to advance and improve the science and methodology of its studies, ensuring that they remain at the forefront of international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) in education. By now, IEA awarded a total of 32 projects across five calls for proposals.
Methodological advances to enhance the extraction of policy-relevant information in TIMSS and TIMSS-L
Henry Braun, Damian Betebenner, Kiara Sanchez
TIMSS and TIMSS-L collect enormous amounts of data. This project will substantially enhance the amount of ILSA policy-relevant information by implementing statistical methods that heretofore haven’t been applied in international contexts. For example, it will demonstrate how TIMSS data can be used to obtain estimates of comparative growth from grade 4 to grade 8 within and between countries.
IEABank: Documentation standards and item bank for past and future IEA studies
Andrés Strello, Andrés Christiansen, Maximiliano Romero, Pablo Torres Irribarra, Rolf Strietholt
IEABank creates a centralized item bank template for IEA studies. It will set common documentation standards, improve collaboration across teams, support consistency across studies and cycles, and make IEA data easier to use for trend analyses – both internally and for external researchers.
Beyond the Score: A multi-level and cross-grade analysis of process data in TIMSS 2023 for equity, instruction, and item design
Philipp Doebler, Purya Baghaei Moghadam, Hamdollah Ravand, Susanne Frick, Farshad Effatpanah Hesari
Beyond the achievement scores in TIMSS 2023, what does the rich log-data reveal about test-taking behavior? Log-data comprises timings, click events, navigation paths, and action sequences, an unprecedented objective record of the micro-level behaviors students exhibit while solving problems. Specifically, the project studies persistence, rapid guessing, and strategic reviewing.
ILSAreport: Accessible tables using IEA data with R
Andrés Christiansen, Andrés Strello, Katie Zuber
The ILSAreport project aims to create an R package that will streamline the production of tables for IEA international reports, ensuring their compliance with accessibility guidelines.
Bridging Time and Context: Longitudinal comparability of background scales in international assessments (COMPASS)
Diego Carrasco, Andrés Sandoval-Hernandez, Nurullah Eryilmaz
COMPASS (“Comparable Scale Scores”) examines longitudinal and cross-national comparability of ICCS background scales using ordinal CFA and alignment methods. The initiative will generate comparable scale scores when feasible, develop methodological tools for invariance diagnosis, and aid trend analyses in international large-scale assessments.
Modeling problem-solving trajectories in ICILS 2023 using multi-state survival analysis: A study with computational thinking (CT) assessment data
Jennifer Viñas Forcade, Mariana González Burgstaller Cortes, Valentina Cancela, Déborah Zak Godoy, Gimena Castelao, Leonardo Moreno
This project examines how students solve computational thinking tasks in ICILS 2023 by modeling problem-solving states and transitions. Using multi-state survival models, it examines transitions between incorrect, partial, and correct states, response times and strategies, comparing students and countries to provide evidence for teaching and to improve computer-based assessments design.
Real-time dashboard for monitoring data collection procedures and outcomes in international large-scale assessments
Sebastian Meyer, Diego Cortes, Marius Kaltenbach, Ali Raza
This project develops a reusable real-time dashboard to monitor data collection activities in large-scale assessments. By providing timely indicators, visual summaries, and early warnings, it enables proactive interventions to address emerging risks, supports efficient study management, and strengthens transparency and collaboration between IEA and participating countries during ongoing fieldwork.
Exploring the Application of AI/Machine-Learning Based Options for IEA Translation and Translation Verification Procedures
Lauren Musu, Miguel Zea, David Ebbs, Anja Waschk, Aisha Elsayed
The project explores integrating AI-assisted translation into IEA workflows by developing an IEA-specific translation and quality estimation model. Using verified past translations, its performance will be compared with other translation outputs through automated metrics and blind human reviews to assess feasibility, quality, and scalability.
Linking grade 4 and grade 8: structural differences and comparability of TIMSS student context indices via MGCFA and network analysis
Yulia Kuzmina
Student context indices such as interest or confidence in mathematics are widely used in TIMSS analyses, yet their comparability across grades remains understudied. This project investigates similarities and differences between Grade 4 and Grade 8 contextual indices to support valid cross-grade comparisons of students’ motivation and attitudes toward school.
Visit the R&D page to explore all published outcomes from previous R&D calls and learn more about opportunities to participate in future calls. For questions, please contact Ralph Carstens and Lauren Musu at: rd@iea.nl.