PIRLS is a major undertaking of IEA, and together with TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), comprises the core of IEA’s regular cycle of studies. IEA has delegated responsibility for the overall direction and management of these two projects to the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College. Headed by Ina V.S. Mullis and Michael O. Martin, the study center is located in the Lynch School of Education. In carrying out these two ambitious international studies, the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center works closely with IEA Amsterdam, IEA Hamburg, and Statistics Canada in Ottawa. Especially important is close coordination with the National Research Coordinators designated by the participating countries to be responsible for the complex tasks involved in implementing the studies in their countries. In summary, it takes extreme dedication on the part of many individuals around the world to make PIRLS a success and the work of these individuals across all of the various activities involved is greatly appreciated.
With each new assessment cycle of PIRLS, one of the most important tasks is to update the assessment frameworks. Updating the PIRLS assessment frameworks for 2021 began in September 2017, and has involved extensive input and reviews by individuals at the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center and IEA, as well as by the PIRLS 2021 National Research Coordinators and the two PIRLS 2021 expert committees—the PIRLS 2021 Reading Development Group and the PIRLS 2021 Questionnaire Development Group. Of all the individuals around the world that it takes to make PIRLS a success, the intention here is to specifically acknowledge some of those persons who had particular responsibility and involvement in developing and producing the PIRLS 2021 Assessment Frameworks.
PIRLS 2021 Framework Development at the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College
Ina V.S. Mullis, Executive Director, TIMSS & PIRLS
Michael O. Martin, Executive Director, TIMSS & PIRLS
Pierre Foy, Director of Sampling, Psychometrics, and Data Analysis
Jenny Liu, Research Specialist, Instrument Development and Reporting
PIRLS 2021 Reading Development Group
The PIRLS Reading Development Group is a panel of internationally recognized experts in reading research, instruction, and assessment. The Reading Development Group is responsible for providing expert advice about the development of the PIRLS 2021 reading assessment, beginning with updating the reading assessment framework and then guiding assessment development.
| Julian Fraillon Australian Council for Educational Research Australia | Elizabeth Pang Ministry of Education Singapore |
| Jan Mejding Aarhus University Denmark | Verónica Diez Girado National Institute for Educational Assessment Ministry of Education Spain |
| Liz Twist National Foundation for Educational Research England | Jenny Wiksten Folkeryd Uppsala University Sweden |
| Marc Colmant Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale France | Latifa Alfalasi Ministry of Education United Arab Emirates, Dubai |
| Galina Zuckerman Russian Academy of Education Russian Federation | Karen Wixson Educational Testing Service United States |
PIRLS 2021 Questionnaire Development Group
The PIRLS 2021 Questionnaire Development Group is comprised of educational policy analysis experts and PIRLS 2021 National Research Coordinators who have special responsibility for providing guidance in updating the context questionnaire framework and context questionnaires for PIRLS 2021.
| Anne Matoul Université de Liège Belgium (French) | Fathia Mohammed Amour Al Mawali Ministry of Education Oman |
| Hwa Wei Ko National Central University Chinese Taipei | Surette van Staden Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) University of Pretoria South Africa |
| Kaisa Leino Finnish Institute for Educational Research University of Jyväskylä Finland | Bridget Dalton University of Colorado United States |
| Megan Chamberlain Ministry of Education Educational Measurement and Assessment Team New Zealand |
PIRLS 2021 National Research Coordinators
The PIRLS 2021 National Research Coordinators (NRCs) work with the PIRLS project staff in the various areas to ensure that the study is responsive to their concerns, both policy-oriented and practical, and are responsible for implementing the study in their countries. The PIRLS 2021 National Research Coordinators participated in a series of reviews of the PIRLS 2021 Assessment Frameworks.
| Albania Rezana Vrapi National Agency of Examinations (NAE) Center of Educational Cervise | Latvia Antra Ozola University of Latvia |
| Australia Sue Thomson Australian Council for Educational Research | Lithuania Ramutė Skripkienė National Examinations Center Research and Analysis Unit |
| Austria Juliane Schmich BIFIE – Federal Institute for Educational Research, Innovation & Development of the Austrian School System, Salzburg – Center for Educational Monitoring & Standards | Macao Tang Wai Keong Education and Youth Affairs Bureau (DSEJ) |
| Azerbaijan Nermina Aliyeva Ministry of Education | Malta Charles Mifsud Centre for Literacy University of Malta |
| Bahrain Huda Al-Awadi Ministry of Education | Montenegro Milanka Izgarevic Examination Centre |
| Belgium (Flemish) Isabelle Erauw Strategic Policy Support Division Education & Training Department Flemish Government | Morocco Mohammed Sassi Centre National de l’Evaluation, et des Examens et de l’Orientation |
| Belgium (French) Anne Matoul Université de Liège | The Netherlands Joyce Gubbels Expertisecentrum Nederlands National Language Education Center |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina Zaneta Dzumhur Agency for Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education | New Zealand Megan Chamberlain Ministry of Education Educational Measurement and Assessment Team |
| Bulgaria Marina Vasileva Mavrodieva Center for Assessment in Pre-School and School Education (CAPSE) Ministry of Education, Youth, and Science | North Macedonia Tanja Andonova Mitrevska Bureau for Development of Education |
| Canada Kathryn O’Grady Tanya Scerbina Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) | Norway Åse Kari Wagner Center for Reading Research University of Stavanger |
| Chile Carolina Leyton Departamento de Estudios Internacionales División de Estudios Agencia de Calidad de la Educación | Oman Zuwaina Saleh Al-Maskari Ministry of Education |
| Chinese Taipei Yu-Wen Chang National Taipei University of Education | Poland Joanna Kaźmierczak Educational Research Institute |
| Croatia Ines Elezovic National Center for External Evaluation of Education | Portugal Vanda Lourenço Instituto de Avaliação Educativa, I.P. Ministry of Education and Science |
| Cyprus Yiasemina Karagiorgi Center of Educational Research and Evaluation Pedagogical Institute | Qatar Badriya Al-Mohannadi Ministry of Education and Higher Education |
| Czech Republic Zuzana Janotová Czech School Inspectorate | Russian Federation Galina Sidorova Federal Institute for the Strategy of Education Development of the Russian Academy of Education Center for Evaluating the Quality of Education |
| Denmark Jan Mejding Katja Neubert Aarhus University | Saudi Arabia Fahad Ibrahim Almoqhim National Center for Assessment |
| England Grace Grima Pearson UK | Serbia Branislav Randjelović Institute for Education Quality and Evaluation |
| Finland Kaisa Leino Finnish Institute for Educational Research University of Jyväskylä | Singapore Vanessa Chua Elizabeth Pang Foo Seau Fah Ministry of Education |
| France Marc Colmant Ministère de l’Éducation Nationale | Slovak Republic Kristína Čevorová NUCEM (National Institute for Certified Educational Measurements) |
| Georgia Giorgi Tchumburidze National Assessment and Examination Center | Slovenia Eva Klemencic Educational Research Institute National Education Institute Slovenia |
| Germany Nele McElvany Institut für Schulentwicklungsforschung IFS, Center for Research on Education and School Development TU Dortmund University | South Africa Surette van Staden Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) University of Pretoria |
| Hong Kong Shek Kam Tse The University of Hong Kong | Spain Veronica Díez National Institute for Educational Assessment Ministry of Education |
| Hungary Ildikó Balazsi Péter Balkányi Educational Authority Department of Assessment and Evaluation | Sweden Cecilia Stenman SKOLVERKET/Swedish National Agency for Education |
| Iran, Islamic Republic Abdol’azim Karimi Organization for Educational Research and Planning | United Arab Emirates Hessa Al Wahhabi Shaikha Ali Al Zaabi Ministry of Education |
| Ireland Emer Delaney Educational Research Centre DCU St. Patrick’s College Campus, Dublin | United States Sheila Thompson National Center for Education Statistics U.S. Department of Education |
| Israel Georgette Hilu Joel Rapp RAMA (National Authority for Measurement and Evaluation in Education) | Uzbekistan Abduvali Ismailov National Center for International Research in Education Quality Assessment |
| Italy Laura Palmerio INVALSI (Istituto Nazionale per la Valutazione del Sistema Educativo di Istruzione e di Formazione) | Benchmarking Participants Ontario, Canada Laurie McNelles Education Quality and Accountability Office |
| Jordan Khattab Lebdeh National Center for Human Resources Development | Québec, Canada Latifa Elfassihi Ministère de l’Éducation et de l’Enseignement Supérieur |
| Kazakhstan Aigul Baigulova Department of International Comparative Studies of JSC | Moscow City, Russian Federation Elena Zozulya Moscow Center for Quality of Education |
| Kosovo Nizafete Kutllovci-Bardhi Ministry of Education, Science and Technology of Kosovo | Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Nada Abu Baker Husain Ruban Mariam Alhaway Al Zarroni Ministry of Education |
| Kuwait Abrar Ahmed Baqer National Centre for Education Development | Dubai, United Arab Emirates Mariam Al Ali Knowledge and Human Development Authority |