PISA FOR
DEVELOPMENT
Initial Technical Meeting
Closing Session
27-28 June 2013
OECD Secretariat
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PISA for Development
Management arrangements
Main Elements of Governance
Partnership with and ownership by 5 to 7
participating countries
International Steering Group
Technical Oversight
and Coordination
International and
National
Implementation
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International Steering Group: ToR
• To provide substantive and strategic
guidance to the project
• Membership
• Steering Group Decisions
• Meetings and Co-chairpersons
• Secretariat
3
Technical Advisory Group: ToR
• TAG to explore and provide
recommendations on technical issues
related to the development and
implementation of the PISA for
Development project.
• Membership
• Scope of work
• Ways of working and responsibilities
• Key tasks and competencies
• Will follow PISA guiding principles.
PISA FOR DEVELOPMENT
Conclusions
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
Strong representation at the meeting from
• Countries committed to or considering
participation in PISA for development (Cambodia,
Ecuador, Guatemala, Mongolia, Punjab
(Pakistan), Senegal, Sri Lanka, Zambia),
• Development partners (France, Germany
(BMZ/GIZ), IADB, Korea, Norway, UK (DFID),
World Bank),
• International agencies (UNESCO, UNICEF, GMR,
CONFEMEN and PASEC), and
• Independent technicians in the field.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Expressed unanimous support for the
PISA for development project and
• Acknowledged the unique value that PISA
has as an international benchmarking tool
for quality and equity in schooling and for
guiding policies for system improvement.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Were inspired by the presentation of Luiz
Costa, President of IMEP, who
explained how participation in PISA has
helped drive up the quality and
inclusiveness of the school system in
Brazil, showing that there does not need
to be a tradeoff between the two.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Endorsed the vital role that the PISA context
questionnaires play in providing countries
with the policy information that can support
system improvement and
• Agreed that adaptation was needed to fit the
contexts of developing countries including in
measures of the student's home, family and
socio-economic contexts, the student's health
and well being, their school experience up to
the age of 15 years, the resource challenges
facing schools.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Agreed that the cognitive assessment should seek to provide
greater resolution of the skills of students at the lower end of
the proficiency distribution.
• Asked for expert input as to how this could be done with the
existing pool of PISA items, recognising that new item
development would be needed in due course if this was not
possible. Noted that the empirical data will indicate to what
extent new item development is needed.
• Noted that PISA has already developed and implemented a
component reading skills assessment that provides more
detailed information of the reading skills at the lower end of
the skills range, and
• Noted the value in having something similar for mathematics
and science.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Agreed the importance of seeking
approaches for including out of school 15year-olds in the study but recognised the
significant challenge in conducting a
representative international assessment of
their skills.
• Suggested nevertheless that valuable policy
information should be sought that would
support efforts for greater in inclusiveness in
school systems in the participating countries.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Noted the important role that PISA for
Development should play in building
capacity in the participating countries,
including
– for developing and conducting national and
international large scale assessments, and
– for using performance data to diagnose
strengths and weaknesses in the education
system, and for supporting school
improvement efforts.
PISA for Development
Initial Technical Meeting - Conclusions
• Noted the important role that PISA for
Development and PISA can play in
contributing to post-2015 global
educational targets that are focussed on
learning.
Next Steps
• OECD to consult further on and then
commission technical papers and to prepare
ToR for international contractor
• OECD to write to countries with proposed
agreement for participation in the project
• Countries to respond to OECD’s proposed
agreement and to confirm their participation
• Participating countries to nominate NCs and
NPMs
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Next steps continued
• Participating countries establish agreements with
development partners regarding contributions and support
(e.g. international costs, in-country costs and activities)
• OECD to collate information regarding capacity-building
experiences, specifically regarding student assessment and
use of results
• OECD to confirm with development partners agreements for
support to the project – general contributions and countryspecific contributions
• OECD to confirm with other agencies arrangements for
technical partnerships and collaboration
• First meetings of International Steering Group and Technical
Advisory Group (including capacity-building)
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Next steps continued
• Tendering process to commission
international contractor (s) by OECD
• Project implementation:
- Design, planning and coordination (including
capacity assessment and capacity building
planning for participating countries);
- Technical development
- Field trials and main data collection;
- Analysis and reporting
- Post-pilot governance
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