The National Center for External Evaluation of Education (NCVVO) of the Republic of Croatia, in cooperation with the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, organized a regional meeting of countries participating in the IEA TIMSS and PIRLS studies. Regional meetings have been held once a year since 2017 with the aim of developing a regional report titled Dinaric Perspectives, first of its kind so far. This year’s meeting was held 16 – 19 September in Supetar, Brac, Croatia.
In addition to the participants from: Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia and the host country of Croatia, the meeting was also attended by representatives of the Agency for Pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary Education of BiH, which conducts the studies in BiH. The IEA representatives and international partners from Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Slovakia contributed greatly to the workshops.
Addressed were topics and practices related to the recently administered TIMSS 2019 Main Survey. On behalf of the BiH team, Deputy Director of the Agency, Ms. Alisa Ibrakovic, addressed the participants, emphasizing the importance of BiH participation in international educational researches. Discussed were also all necessary steps on administering the forthcoming PIRLS 2021 field test in 2020 and PIRLS 2021 Main Survey.
The meeting was an opportunity not only to talk through the implemented activities and difficulties encountered in previous cycles but to reach even better regional cooperation on set goals.
IEA provided an extensive support to BiH participation in these international researches.