Use and Impact of TIMSS
Ireland has participated in two previous TIMSS assessments, in 1995 (at the primary and post-primary levels) and in 2011 (at the primary level only). It is likely that the earlier study contributed to the thinking behind the introduction of the current primary school science curriculum (1999), which represented a significant expansion of the previous curriculum (1971) in terms of skill objectives and subject content, in particular. The 2011 study was underway while the current National Literacy and Numeracy Strategy was being prepared. The Strategy specifically references TIMSS as one benchmark against which to compare the performance of Irish students, within a broader strategy to enhance literacy and numeracy. The international and national30,31 reporting of TIMSS 2011, Ireland’s first participation in an international study of achievement at the primary level since 1995, received considerable media and political attention. Some of the media coverage went beyond achievement results by highlighting the breadth of contextual data (for example, student attitudes, sense of belonging, and readiness to learn in the classroom).32 Furthermore, the influence of the frameworks and methodologies used in developing and reporting TIMSS and PIRLS is evident in the design and administration of recent national assessments of reading and mathematics in Ireland.