TIMSS and PIRLS
NRC meeting in Québec City

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.

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.