PIRLS Countries Assemble to Review Exhibits in Agadir
Morocco's Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training hosted the PIRLS 2016 7th National Research Coordinators Meeting, attended by representatives of more than 50 countries in Agadir in December. Together, they reviewed exhibits for PIRLS 2016 and the inaugural ePIRLS 2016, an assessment of online reading.
Dr. Rachid Benmokhtar, Morocco’s Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, opened the meeting, emphasizing the important roles that TIMSS and PIRLS have played in the development of Morocco’s education system.
From left: Mohammed Sassi, PIRLS coordinator for Morocco; Michael O. Martin and Ina V.S. Mullis, Executive Directors of PIRLS; Rachid Benmokhtar, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training; Zineb El Adaoui, Wali (Governor) of the Souss-Massa region; IEA Executive Director Dirk Hastedt; and Youssef Belqasmi, Secretary General of the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training.
Rachid Benmokhtar, Minister of National Education and Vocational Training, spoke about the impact of TIMSS and PIRLS in Morocco.
Executive Director Dirk Hastedt delivered a welcome from IEA, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement.
Ina V.S. Mullis, Executive Director of the IEA’s TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, spoke about the online reporting strategy for PIRLS 2016.
Michael O. Martin, Executive Director of the IEA’s TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, discussed plans for PIRLS 2021.
Ali Al-Rasbi answered journalists’ questions about Oman’s participation in PIRLS.
Hwa Wei Ko discussed Chinese Taipei’s reading achievement with a reporter.
Martin Hooper, Assistant Research Director, TIMSS and PIRLS Questionnaire Development and Policy Studies, spoke about development of the PIRLS Context Questionnaire Scales.
Duygu Savasci of the IEA Data Processing and Research Center helped Randi Larsen (left) and Jan Mejding (right) of Denmark with their data.
Maryam Al-Ostad of Kuwait and Celeste Combrinck of South Africa reviewed PIRLS exhibits.
Anne Matoul of Belgium (right) consulted with Sylvie LaRoche of Statistics Canada.
Sebastian Meyer and Milena Taneva of the IEA Data Processing and Research Center were on hand to assist PIRLS country representatives with their data.
Mohammed Sassi (left), PIRLS National Research Coordinator for Morocco, welcomed attendees to the meeting, with translation by Ahmed Chaibi.
Morocco’s PIRLS team worked with representatives from other PIRLS countries to ensure the meeting ran smoothly.
David Ebbs of the IEA Secretariat delivered a report on translation verification.
Pierre Foy, Director of Sampling, Psychometrics, and Data Analysis at the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, presented an overview of PIRLS scaling methodology.
Antra Ozola of Latvia gave a preview of the upcoming PIRLS 2016 8th National Research Coordinators Meeting, to be held in Riga in June 2017.
TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center thanks our generous hosts from the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training.
