Research Studies
How the IEA adopted RM's accreditation platform to digitise PIRLS, the global standard for monitoring achievement in reading and literacy, assessing 400,000 students.
Case Study | IEA
Introduction
The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement’s (IEA) PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is the global standard for monitoring reading achievement at the 4th grade. Since 2001, its high-quality data has been used by policy makers and educators to evaluate the effectiveness of their education systems and make evidence-based decisions about reading curriculum and instruction.
Goals
IEA decided to transition to digital assessments for PIRLS 2021 to capitalise on advances in technology and measurement methodology to improve the assessments. It also allowed them to encompass new online reading literacy skills.
For PIRLS 2021, the usual progress of education was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The solution
IEA chose RM, a UK based company with an accomplished record in delivering digital assessment solutions, to help them achieve their goals of improving measurement through more engaging and interactive assessment materials and procedures.
Using RM’s end-to-end platform meant operational procedures (e.g., the digital equivalents of printing and sending materials to schools) were more consistent and efficient after the move to digital assessments.
Nearly 400,000 students in 57 countries were assessed. The results of the study are used to inform education policy and raise literacy rates. An example finding from the study was that the gender gap favouring girls, as found in each successive PIRLS cycle, persisted in PIRLS 2021. Girls had higher reading achievement than boys in 51 of the 57 countries, with an average advantage of 19 points.
PIRLS 2021 is the only international assessment of educational achievement that collected data during COVID-19’s disruption in students’ schooling, affecting nearly half the assessed students for 8 weeks or more*.
“During the digital assessments, we saw the gender gap favouring girls found in each successive PIRLS cycle persisted in PIRLS 2021, when girls had higher reading achievement than boys in 51 of the 57 countries, with an average advantage of 19 points.”
For numeracy, IEA’s TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2023 also went digital using the same platform.
In May 2025, RM signed a contract with IEA to provide the digital platform for TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2027. Read the press release.
TIMSS is the longest-running large-scale international assessment of mathematics and science, assessing students at both the fourth and eighth grades. Data from TIMSS are used to enable countries to make evidence-based decisions to improve education policies. For TIMSS 2023, the latest cycle of the study, more than 650,000 students in 64 countries participated. IEA used RM’s Assessment Master to conduct the assessments digitally for the first time in 2023 and, continuing this cooperation, RM will now deliver the next assessment in 2027.
“IEA and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College are pleased to be working with RM to adapt the Assessment Master to the exacting demands of TIMSS 2027. This latest cycle will introduce exciting advancements and innovative new assessment items to capture rich data about the breadth and depth of these subjects as they are taught in the participating countries.”
Dr. Dirk Hastedt, IEA Executive Director
*This case study was included in British Expertise International’s Education Report, “Systems Strengthening: The UK Education Providers’ contribution to the global education systems”, as part of their Education Working Group under the pillar “Provision of Inclusive Quality Education”.
Education is a crucial pillar of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This case study is an example of Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
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Learn more about RM AvaTM, our adaptive virtual accreditation platform for digital assessment at https://content.rmresults.com/rm-ava