EDUCATION MATTERS
EXPANDING THE LANA COMMUNITY OF COUNTRIES IEA is eager to provide more countries with the opportunity to participate in LaNA. Countries that administered LaNA in the 2023 Linking Study can readminister the assessment and obtain trend data and new countries can establish a baseline. LaNA has been proven to be feasible in a range of country contexts and can be tailored to countries’ needs while maintaining technical rigor and standardization. IEA leadership and the LaNA team are conducting outreach to countries (and subnational education systems) that would benefit most from LaNA, as well as donor organizations, to share the results from the LaNA 2023 Linking Study and how LaNA data can be used to inform educational improvement. This outreach includes learning what countries and donor agencies need and would like to see included in LaNA so that the project can continue to evolve to address countries’ needs.
for updating the LaNA questionnaires used in the 2023 Linking Study. In addition, a teacher questionnaire will be developed in response to countries’ desire for more data on classroom contexts and instruction. The R&D project team is working to identify (1) key constructs that are related to achievement in low- and low-middle income countries and (2) existing survey items that measure these constructs in ways that are valid and appropriate for LaNA target countries. Based on this, the revised student and school and new teacher questionnaires will be developed in partnership with the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College. To the extent possible the items used in the LaNA questionnaire will be those used in TIMSS and PIRLS, to facilitate comparisons, though adjustments will be made when appropriate. STRENGTHENING ASSESSMENT CAPACITY IN LANA COUNTRIES A core element of LaNA is the development of countries’ capacity for implementing the study and for assessment more broadly. LaNA countries participate in targeted training and get hands-on practice in assessment implementation (including sampling, standardized data collection and operations, and data management). IEA experts provide formal training and work alongside staff in LaNA countries to provide guidance and support, and are available for consultation throughout the project. In addition to the core capacity-building training, countries can opt for modules in targeted areas of interest, such as secondary data analysis or policy brief development. LaNA countries are part of a robust community of countries around the world that are using large-scale assessment to inform policy and educational improvement, providing a unique opportunity to cross-national collaboration and learning. In addition to establishing a psychometric link to the TIMSS and PIRLS scales, the LaNA 2023 Linking Study (see page 26 ) demonstrated the feasibility of implementing LaNA in a range of contexts, including countries with varying degrees of experience with international assessment and countries experiencing crisis and conflict. This was encouraging and also instructive, as IEA learned more about the levels and types of training and support that countries need to successfully implement. These lessons learned will be incorporated into planning future administrations of LaNA and taking into consideration each country’s needs and circumstances. With the successful implementation of the 2023 Linking Study, LaNA stands at a promising juncture. IEA is committed to continuous improvement to ensure the assessment remains responsive to countries’ needs.
“LaNA has been proven to be feasible in a range of country contexts and can be tailored to countries’ needs while maintaining technical rigor and standardization.”
ENHANCING THE LANA CONTEXT QUESTIONNAIRES TO BETTER TARGET COUNTRY CONTEXTS The 2023 LaNA Linking Study included a student questionnaire that students completed after the achievement item blocks and a school questionnaire completed by the school principals. These questionnaires were largely based on the TIMSS and PIRLS student and school questionnaires, though shorter and with some items adapted for the contexts of LaNA countries. For example, the student questionnaire asked students about home resources, home language, sense of school belonging, and attitudes toward mathematics and reading, among other variables. The school questionnaire included questions about school locale, school climate and discipline, and instructional resources, among others. While the 2023 LaNA student and school questionnaires functioned appropriately, there is an opportunity to expand and improve them to better address the contexts of LaNA countries. An IEA-supported R&D project under the leadership of Oliver Neuschmidt will provide the foundation
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