An IERI – International Educational Research Institute Journal
Table 1 A comparison of PISA, TIMSS & PIRLS, ICCS, and CLIL ILSA Programs
Descriptor | PISA (OECD) | TIMSS & PIRLS (IEA) | ICCS (IEA) | ICILS (IEA) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Administration periods | 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018… | 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, 2019… (TIMMS) 2001, 2006, 2011, 2016… (PIRLS) | 2009, 2016, 2022… | 2013, 2018… |
Target Populations | 15-year-olds (aged between 15 years and three months, and 16 years and two months at time of assessment) | Grade 4 (though next grade higher when average age of testing is less than 9.5; TIMMS & PIRLS); Grade 8 (though next grade higher when average age of testing is less than 13.5; TIMMS)2 | Grade 8 (though next grade higher when average age of testing is less than 13.5)3 | Grade 8 (though next grade higher when average age of testing is less than 13.5)7 |
General Design Doctrine | Human Capital Theory (Sellar & Lingard, 2013) | TIMSS:National Curricula Focussed (IEA, 2019a) PIRLS: “Reading to do” (Stiggins, 1982) and the attainment of societal goals (Mullis & Martin, 2015) | Ecological Systems Theory (Neal & Neal, 2013) | Computer and information literacy and computational thinking (IEA, 2019b) |
Focal subject areas | Scientific, Reading, and Mathematical Literacy every cycle as focal subjects (with collaborative problem solving, problem solving, and financial literacy included intermittently) | Mathematics and Science (TIMSS); Reading (PIRLS) | Trends in civic knowledge and engagement3 | Computer and Information Literacy7 |
Focus of assessment | How well students can apply understanding and skills in science, reading, and mathematics to real-world situations1 | How well students have mastered factual and procedural knowledge taught in school mathematics and science curricula (TIMSS)1 Reading comprehension at Grade 4 (PIRLS) | UNESCO Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), specifically, 4.7.4: “the percentage of students… showing adequate understanding of issues relating to citizenship and sustainability”4 | Knowledge of basic software and basic use of computers as information source Sufficient knowledge and skills of ICT for information gathering and use Critical thinking while searching for information online7 |
Most recent sample design | Minimum 5250 students from 150 schools6 | Minimum of 4,000 students from 150 schools2 | Minimum of 3,000 students from 150 schools5 | 3000 8th Grade students from each country |
Most recent number of participating territories/ economies | 79 | 61 (50 countries; and 11 benchmarking entities including different regions, and age/language groups) | 24 | 13 |