Conference Agenda

Over the last 30 years, International Large-scale assessments have become ubiquitous in the field of education. They are often cited by researchers and policy makers as their source of information in support of their findings and policy recommendations. In addition to the assessment, these large-scale assessments collect a wealth of background and contextual information from the students, their parents, their teachers, and the principals of their school. The institutions conducting these large-scale assessments make these data available for secondary users, but due to the large amount of information collected, and the complex nature of their assessment and data collection designs, these are not always easy to figure out or navigate.

This workshop will provide participants with an overview of the main international large-scale assessments, their goals, the information available, and the main methods of analysis. It will also provide an overview of freely available software that can be used to navigate the complex structure of the data and the analysis setup. Contents covered will be the following:

• Large-scale assessments: what are they and why are they useful
• Overview of the main large-scale assessments (TIMSS, PIRLS, ICCS, ICILS, PISA, PIAAC)
• Description of the types and sources of information available: assessment results, background information and process data.
• Overview of the methods and procedures of data collection, and implications for the analysis
• Discussion of potential research questions that could be addressed using these data

The workshop will consist mostly of lectures, but will also dedicate ample time to answer questions from participants on the potential uses of large-scale assessment databases for secondary analysis. This workshop is ideal for emerging researchers looking for a source of data that would help answer research questions that will shape their careers.