A Meeting of the PIRLS Minds in Jyväskylä
The PIRLS NRC meeting was a huge success as the IEA, TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, and participating countries and benchmarking participants gathered in Jyväskylä, Finland.
They made final decisions about the contents of the PIRLS 2016 assessment. More than 100 reading and assessment experts from 50 countries around the world collaborated to review passages, items, and questionnaires for PIRLS, PIRLS Literacy, and ePIRLS.
Dr. Michael Martin, Executive Director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, spoke at the PIRLS NRC meeting, accompanied by Jouni Välijärvi, Director of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä.
Dr. Paulína Koršňáková, Director of the IEA Secretariat, said a few words, accompanied by Dr. Ina Mullis, Executive Director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center.
Sylvie LaRoche of Statistics Canada presented the sampling status report.
João Maroco, National Research Coordinator for Portugal, offered comments during the PIRLS NRC meeting in Jyväskylä, Finland.
Pierre Foy, Director of Sampling, Psychometrics, and Data Analysis at the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, spoke about field test achievement data analyses.
Representatives from PIRLS participating countries together at Survo Manor in Jyväskylä, Finland.
From left: Dr. Michael Martin of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center; Dr. Paulína Koršňáková of the IEA Secretariat; Jouni Välijärvi of the Finnish Institute for Educational Research; Dr. Ina Mullis of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center; and Sylvie LaRoche of Statistics Canada at historic Survo Manor.
Inga Arffman, PIRLS Coordinator for Finland and a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä, at Survo Manor.
Dr. Ina Mullis reviewed recommendations from participating countries for the PIRLS assessments.
Dr. Michael Martin and Marian Sainsbury, Chief Reading Consultant from England's National Foundation for Educational Research, heard questions and comments about the PIRLS assessments.
Steffen Knoll of the IEA Data Processing & Research Center spoke about ePIRLS software and operations procedures.
A Finnish TV news crew interviewed Dr. Ina Mullis about PIRLS and literacy in Finland.
Participants visited the historic Survo Manor, and learned about Finnish culture at Savutuvan Apaja. In addition, Finnish broadcaster Yle TV1 interviewed Dr. Ina Mullis, Executive Director of the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center, about PIRLS, ePIRLS, and reading literacy in Finland.
Watch the YLE TV1 newscast »
"Even though the week here was busy and hectic, it was also a great joy," said Inga Arffman, a Senior Researcher at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research and PIRLS Coordinator for Finland. "We even managed to promote Finnish people's awareness of PIRLS as an important international large-scale reading literacy study, and to arouse a debate on the role and significance of reading and what is involved in it."
TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center thanks our generous hosts from the Finnish Institute for Educational Research at the University of Jyväskylä.
Read our Spotlight feature on Finland »
