1. 11 PIRLS 2006 - The Trinidad and Tobago Experience Regional Policy Dialogue on Education 2-3 December 2008 Harrilal Seecharan Ministry of Education Trinidad and Tobago

2. 2 Overview Why did T&T participate in PIRLS? Resource requirements Input into tests Impact on local capacity to carry out assessment Sampling/Technical support Use/Intended use of PIRLS data

3. 3 Background Government Goal - achievement of developed country status by 2020 Education ranked as number one priority with human resource development as the platform for moving to developed country status National policy focuses on literacy and numeracy skills

4. 4 Background Where are we? (Baseline) Where would we like to be? (Benchmark) How can we get there? (Policy direction) How will we know when we get there? (Trend)

5. 5 Background National test results point to weakness in literacy and numeracy skills at the primary school Introduction of USE increased reading literacy challenge at the secondary school level Government commitment to EFA and Millennium development goals

6. 6 Which study should T&T participate in? PIRLS, TIMSS, PISA? All studies available meet the technical requirements Literacy development can facilitate achievement in other areas including Math and Science Early literacy development facilitates transition through the school system (responsibility resides at the primary school level)

7. 7 Other Issues Considered Do we have the communication and administrative systems to carry out the study? Are populations and samples comparable? What is the degree of alignment between the PIRLS Reading Framework and the National Reading Framework? – impact on results Is the test too difficult for our students?

8. 8 Which study should T&T participate in? PIRLS which assesses grade 4 (standard 3) - a critical benchmarking point and could be complimented by PISA Recommendation – Participate in PIRLS

9. 9 PIRLS For PIRLS, Reading Literacy is defined as: The ability to understand and use those written language forms required by society and/or valued by the individual. Young readers can construct meaning from a variety of texts. They read to learn, to participate in communities of readers in school and everyday life, and for enjoyment

10. 10 PIRLS PIRLS focuses on three aspects of students’ reading literacy: Processes of comprehension Purposes for reading; and Reading behaviours and attitudes Target population Grade 4

11. 11 Resource Requirements Study located in Ministry of Education in Division of Educational Research and Evaluation (DERE) - Some capacity in student assessment (responsibility for National Test) -Could use existing systems, equipment and staff to execute study

12. 12 Resource Requirements Personnel NRC’s – two officers from the DERE Data Manager – IT specialist from IT UNIT Data Entry – Outsourced, supervised by Data Manager Review of materials/tests/adaptation –Curriculum Officers, Assessment Officers School Coordinators/Test Administrators – Principals/classroom teachers (not teacher of sampled class)

13. 13 Inputs into Tests A Collaborative approach was used in the development of test materials in PIRLS Study by the International Study Centre (ISC) and experts in the field. Every country including T&T had opportunities to participate in test development through:  Submission of passages  Participation in passage selection  Writing of items  Review of test items/materials  Adaptation of test materials

14. 14 Impact on Local capacity to Assess Student Learning Participation/exposure in activities such as: -Test design, item writing and review, sampling, conduct of the study, adaptation, scorer training, quality control, data entry, data management, analysis of results.

15. 15 Impact on Local capacity to Assess Student learning Exposure to activities in the PIRLS Study has validated some existing practices Provided framework for re-examination of our existing practices -e.g. Packing guidelines - Number of extra scripts per class -Reviewed test administration manual -Identified areas for additional training /improvement of national assessments IRT training to take place shortly

16. 16 Sample Selection Exposure to PIRLS Sampling methodology Currently looking at the design of national test - Census or sample (Dependant on building of capacity in IRT)

17. 17 Technical Support for Study Technical support was readily available throughout the study. (Within 24 hours) -Sample Selection- statistics Canada -Instrument development, preparation etc. – Boston College -Data management – Data Processing Centre Germany

18. 18 Response/proposed Response to PIRLS data

19. 19 Where are we? Baseline for reading literacy Reading Literacy Achievement average for Trinidad & Tobago - 436 points (PIRLS Scale Average of 500 (SD-100) 340 point between the 95 percentile and those at the 5th percentile compared to an international average difference of 250 between these two groups

20. 20 International Benchmarking Each benchmark represent a range of performance : Low 400 Intermediate 475 High550 Advanced625 e.g. Students at the low benchmark: display basic reading skills. recognize, locate, and reproduce explicitly stated details from informational texts (particularly if the details were at the beginning of the text) answer some items requiring straight forward inferences

21. 21 Data Source: IEA Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 Figure 4 - Percentage of Students Reaching the PIRLS 2006 International Benchmarks for Reading Achievement 64 38 13 2 94 76 41 7 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Low (400) Intermediate(475) High(550) Advanced(625) International Benchmarks Percent of Students Trinidad and TobagoInternational Median

22. 22 Reading purposes and processes Reading for informational purposes (440) slightly higher than literary purposes(434) No difference between the two processes (retrieving and straightforward inference scale (438) and the interpreting, integrating, and evaluating scale (437) Large gender differences in reading achievement in favour of girls for both purposes and processes

23. 23 Response to results Review of primary school curriculum and its organization for the teaching of reading and the framework for literacy including the following: -Instructional time -Organization of classes -Gender differential -Strategies for teaching of reading and assisting students with difficulties. -Range of materials used - Literacy standards for each level in the primary school

24. 24 Support for Policy Early Childhood Care and Education 71 point difference in achievement between children who attended pre - primary education between 1-2 years and those who did not. Government has already introduced a programme for universal ECCE by 2010

25. 25 Data Source: IEA Progress in Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006

26. 26 Support for Policy Provision of textbooks/educational resources to students 135 point difference between the between performance of students’ where there was a high index of home educational resources and those students who came from homes with a low index and where parents had not completed secondary education

27. 27 Conclusion Participation in PIRLS provided empirical data about reading literacy in T&T from a global perspective Provided research data to reassess and inform policy on reading literacy Can facilitate monitoring of trend in reading literacy Provide support for capacity building in assessment

28. 28