Using the results from international assessment studies: The Case of Honduras

1. Using the results from international assessment studies: The Case of Honduras Dr. Renan rapaloCastellanos Moscu, Russia, june 20, 2013

2. HONDURAS

3. Honduras is just 2 hrs awayfrom the USA.

4. Facts & Figures Population: 8.2 million Total area: 112,492 sq km LANGUAGE • Spanish is our main language. But, English is widely used as second language. GOVERNMENT SYSTEM • Democracy: Elections every 4 years Main Problems: • Poverty: 66% • Low levels of education • Unemployment • High crime

5. General overview of the education system

6. Key education indicators

7. Student assessment activities in Honduras • National Large Scale Assessment • National assessment of the quality of education (samples in 3º and 6º grades). • Large scale international Studies • SERCE (Latin America, 1997) • TIMSS (2011) • PIRLS (2011) • TERCE (Latin America, 2014) • Classroom assessment (by teachers)

8. Why participate in international studies • Not for the horse race • For a more effective educational planning and reform • To strengthen our national testing system • To have a one-to-one comparison performance with other countries • To encourage research into the factors that affect the quality of education • To improve the quality of education in the country

9. Results in TIMSS & Pirls (2011)

10. General use of the assessment results • To generate a public debate about the quality of education in the country (new education law) • To compare where we are in relation to other similar countries • To validate the results generated for the national evaluation system • Use them as a valid evidence for decision- making • Allow for informed benchmarking • Improve the overall quality of the education system • To know the factors that most affect the students performance in the country vis a vis other countries

11. Specific uses of the Assessment information • 1. Knowing the learning levels of students • Knowing whether the Honduran students learning outcomes are improving and why or why not? • Knowing if Honduran students are acquiring the knowledge skills as identified in the national education strategy • 2. Monitoring the impact of reform • Used as baselines to test the education reform programs • Diagnosis of the education system • 3. Providing feedback to schools and teachers to improve pedagogy and learning (teacher training and curriculum reform) • 4. Providing valid feedback to international donors

12. Challenges in the participation and use of international achievement results • The horse racing exploited negatively by the media • The measuring scale is too high for our students • Lack of financial and human resources • Limitations in the generalizability of results • Constant changes of key personnel in the ministry of education • Lack of specific policies and mechanism to use the results at the local or school level • Very few other Latin American countries are participating in the IEA studies

13. CONCLUSION • In Conclusion: There is a lot of data obtained through the national and international large scale studies in Honduras. However, their use is still very limited for policy and decision making we are also a long way for using them to reward high performing schools/teachers or impose sanctions on low performing schools/teachers.

14. Thank you! • Спасибо! • ¡Gracias!