In Québec City, Wrapping Up TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015
TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015 entered their final stages as representatives from IEA, the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, and more than 60 participating countries and benchmarking participants met in Québec City to review draft International Reports and exhibits.
Participants received a warm welcome from Yves Sylvain, Assistant Deputy Minister, Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education for Québec.
"The richness of Québec data is in large part due to its continued participation in TIMSS," Sylvain said. "Having started TIMSS in 1995, Québec can count on 20 years of results in mathematics and science."
Québec is participating in TIMSS 2015 and PIRLS 2016.
IEA Chair Anne-Berit Kavli, from Norway, also weighed in with some thoughts on the upcoming International Reports.
"The main focus should not be on the ranking between countries, but the analysis of how to use the TIMSS data, to see what works, to see weaknesses and strengths in education systems, and how they can be used to produce high quality outcomes for all," she said.
Representatives of more than 60 countries and regions attended the 8th TIMSS 2015 National Research Coordinators Meeting in Québec City.
IEA Executive Director Dirk Hastedt delivered the welcome at the start of the meeting.
Yves Sylvain, Assistant Deputy Minister, Preschool, Elementary, and Secondary Education for Québec, addressed participants in French alongside Joanne Latourelle, National Research Coordinator for Québec.
IEA Chair Anne-Berit Kavli, from Norway, spoke about the upcoming results of TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015.
Michael O. Martin, Executive Director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, presented a progress report on TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015.
Ina V.S. Mullis, Executive Director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, presented an update on plans for eTIMSS 2019.
Martin Hooper, Assistant Research Director, TIMSS and PIRLS Questionnaire Development and Policy Studies, demonstrated use of the TIMSS 2015 Online International Report.
Trust Mbako Masole and Mmoloki Gabalebatse of Botswana explored the website for the International Report.
Robyn Caygill of New Zealand and Nicole Wernert of Australia shared thoughts on the TIMSS 2015 Online International Report.
Annemiek Punter and Martina Meelissen of the Netherlands tested the features of the website for the International Report.
Tom Loveless, a Nonresident Senior Fellow at The Brookings Institution, discussed the upcoming TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced 2015 reports and the pitfalls of using international test scores to inform policy.
Research Specialist in TIMSS Science Bethany Fishbein, Research Specialist in TIMSS Mathematics Kerry Cotter, and Assistant Research Director, TIMSS Coordinator Victoria Centurino reviewed TIMSS 2015 International Report exhibits.
Oliver Neuschmidt reviewed country data with Hui Leng Ng of Singapore.
Franck Salles and Sophie Edouard of France gave a presentation on how to train journalists in covering international large-scale assessment results.
Liv Sissel Grønmo and Torgeir Onstad of Norway discussed writing national reports and publicizing TIMSS results.
Sue Thomson of Australia shared her experience on writing national reports for Australia and other countries on behalf of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
Yeny Pardini, Lead Designer/Developer for eAssessments, gave a presentation on the development and best practices of infographics.
Duygu Savasci of the IEA (right) trained Ivana Đerić of Serbia and Sofia Vlami of Cyprus in using the International Database Analyzer.
Said Bouderga of Morocco, Ir Nizam of Indonesia, and Ali Juma Ali AlRasbi of Oman consulted with Oliver Neuschmidt of the IEA on the International Database Analyzer.
Milena Taneva of the IEA checked in with Kyongah Sang of the Republic of Korea during International Database Analyzer training.
Others shared valuable perspectives, including Tom Loveless, Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, who spoke about common misuses of international results, how to answer commonly asked questions, and the pitfalls of using international test results to shape policy.
Stephen Provasnik, TIMSS National Research Coordinator for the United States, discussed writing in-depth reports on results for advanced mathematics and physics. Franck Salles and Sophie Edouard of France and Liv Sissel Grønmo and Torgeir Onstad of Norway offered advice on training journalists in interpreting assessment results. Sue Thomson of Australia recounted her experiences in writing national reports for Australia and other countries on behalf of the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER).
TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center thanks Joanne Latourelle, Québec’s National Research Coordinator for TIMSS and PIRLS, and our other generous hosts from Ministère de l'Éducation, et de l'Enseignement Supērieur in Québec.
