Pacific islands literacy and numeracy assessment: collaboration and innovation in reporting and dissemination

Evidence-based policymaking in education has been adopted around the world, establishing a global norm for educational governance (Wiseman, 2010, p. 2). Assessments of student learning have become a major tool of governments – equipping them to gather high-quality data on education in order to inform effective policies and practices (Masters, 2017). Different assessments fulfil different purposes. Some provide valuable information about access to education, and about the quality, efficiency and equity of education (Braun, Kanjee, Bettinger, & Kremer, 2006). International and regional large-scale assessments enable countries and regions to identify their relative strengths and weaknesses. National assessments allow policymakers to focus on country-specific policy priorities and education issues. Classroom- and school-based assessments, in addition, facilitate the monitoring of students’ progress and can inform appropriate pedagogical strategies designed to improve learning outcomes. But how and to what extent are the data collected through learning assessments actually used to inform education policy and practice? A joint research study conducted by the Network on Education Quality Monitoring in the Asia-Pacific region (NEQMAP) Secretariat at UNESCO Bangkok and the Australian Council for Educational Research, Centre for Global Education Monitoring (ACER-GEM) provided insights into how data collected from large-scale assessments of students’ learning are used to inform education policy and practice. This study, published in 2015, focused attention on the Asia-Pacific region (Tobin, Lietz, Nugroho, Vivekanandan, & Nyamkhuu, 2015).