EDUCATION MATTERS
IEA benefits from its diverse country membership and the varied perspectives of the different types of institutions that oversee IEA study implementation. In some countries, staff working on IEA studies are situated within universities, while in other countries they are located within the ministries of education, or public research institutions. There is also diversity in the resources of IEA member institutions and study centers, which can result in limited availability of opportunities to engage with IEA data for some smaller teams. It comes as no surprise that the idea of organizing the first IEA International Research Conference (IEA IRC) in 2004 came from Cyprus and was motivated by the goal of supporting secondary analyses of the rich datasets already available from IEA studies. And, while small countries and teams may particularly benefit from a forum like the IRC, the conference has grown into an opportunity for all IEA stakeholders to engage.
The IRC 2025 was organized by IEA, INVALSI, and Roma Tre University, and took place between 25–27 June 2025 at the Department of Humanities of Roma Tre University in Rome, Italy. This 11th edition was also the largest IRC to date, with 260 attendees taking advantage of the opportunity to engage in an environment where IEA data takes center stage. As usual, the IRC 2025 was preceded by three well attended pre-conference workshops focused on secondary analysis of IEA data. The conference itself featured presentations across IEA studies on diverse subject matter, such as literacy and numeracy (LaNA), reading (PIRLS), mathematics and science (TIMSS), civic and citizenship education (ICCS), and computer and information literacy (ICILS). Presentations also considered the rich context in which education occurs by featuring data collected from parents, teachers, and school principals, and information concerning the curriculum. During the past 20 years, the IRC has remained a collaborative space full of opportunities to learn and connect the teams working on studies: staff from IEA Amsterdam, IEA Hamburg, the International Study Centers, national representatives, and researchers come together to share knowledge. The IRC has proven instrumental in
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