21ST CENTURY SKILLS
05.03.2020

New IEA study on schoolchidren will map how 21st century skills are defined and integrated in curricula across the world

Published in:  21st century skills, Education, Tests and Assessments

by Pisana Ferrari – cApStAn Ambassador to the Global Village

Much has been said and written about the so called “21st century skills” but there is no real consensus on what is meant by this term and how these skills are included, if at all, in countries’ curricula. A new study by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement),  21CS MAP, will carry out a curriculum audit to explore and describe the 21st century skills which are valued at over-arching level in the participating countries, and provide comparative information about the different approaches taken to develop them. The study will be conducted for two grades: fourth grade, or the grade that represents four years of schooling, counting from the first year of ISCED Level 1; and the eighth grade, or the grade that represents eight years of schooling, counting from the first year of ISCED Level 1.

IEA is a pioneer in international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) with TIMSS (Math and Science) and PIRLS (Reading literacy) as two of its flagship projects. cApStAn has been collaborating with the IEA on several of their ILSAs since 2001, when it was first commissioned to verify the quality and equivalence of translated/adapted versions of the TIMSS 2003 instruments. 

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Photo:  Pexels