IEA is pleased to announce the 2026 winners of the IEA Research Awards. The Richard M. Wolf Memorial Award has been awarded to Prof. Isa Steinmann for an outstanding research paper, while the Bruce H. Choppin Memorial Award has been awarded to Dr. Natalia López-Hornickel for an outstanding doctoral thesis.
Isa Steinmann receives the Richard M. Wolf Memorial Award
Prof. Isa Steinmann received the Richard M. Wolf Memorial Award for her paper Do Increasing Participation Rates In Early Childhood Education Narrow The Reading Achievement Gap Between High- And Low-SES Primary School Students?
Using data from 64 education systems that participated in at least two PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) cycles between 2001 and 2021, this study examined the relationship between participation in early childhood education and socioeconomic inequalities in reading achievement among primary school students.
Prof. Steinmann is a professor of education at Oslo Metropolitan University in Norway. Her research primarily uses data from international large-scale assessments to investigate how education systems and schools shape student achievement and educational disparities.
This study was conducted as part of the STRIDE project (Strategies for Achieving Equity and Inclusion in Education, Training, and Learning in Democratic Europe), which is co-funded by the European Union and UK Research and Innovation.
Natalia López-Hornickel receives the Bruce H. Choppin Memorial Award
Dr. Natalia López-Hornickel received the Bruce H. Choppin Memorial for her doctoral thesis Latin American Adolescents’ Attitudes toward Gender Equity and the Mechanisms Underlying It: A Multilevel Latent-Class Framework.
Using data from ICCS (International Civic and Citizenship Education Study) 2016 and a systematic review of quantitative research published between 2000 and 2024, this thesis examined adolescents’ attitudes towards gender equity, drawing on social identity theory, political socialization, and intersectional perspectives.
Presenting on her dissertation at the 2026 IEA General Assembly, Dr. Natalia noted:
"What I wanted to do with this thesis was to show that gender equity is central to civic and citizenship education, but research has only recently begun to treat it that way."
Dr. Natalia López-Hornickel is a Research Associate in the Department of Education at the University of Bath, working at the International Study Centre for ICCS. She holds a PhD in Advanced Quantitative Methods in Social Sciences from the University of Bath. Her research focuses on civic and citizenship education, gender equity, educational inequalities, and the application of advanced quantitative methods.
More on the 2026 winners
To learn more about the 2026 award-winning research and the winners, read the related IEA Insider article.
About the IEA Research Awards
› What are the IEA Research Awards?
The IEA Research Awards are held annually to recognize high-quality research that makes use of IEA data. The awards commemorate the contributions of Bruce H. Choppin and Richard M. Wolf to IEA.
› When is the application deadline?
The deadline for applications is 31 March each year.
› How can I apply for an IEA Research Award?
Applications should be submitted to secretariat@iea.nl. More information is available on the IEA Research Awards page.