Consequential Validity: Data Access, Data Use, Analytical Support, and Training

Abstract

The data collected by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) represent a vast resource of information on the functioning of the participating educational systems and provide a form of public accountability that should be made accessible to the wider research community. In keeping with IEA’s mission to disseminate its research findings and develop the broader research community, its data is generally made publicly available. Furthermore, in order to address potential concerns regarding consequential validity (correct data use and interpretation), IEA has developed a training and capacity building strategy that includes several key components related to data access, training and capacity building, and the stimulation and support of secondary analysis. In brief, IEA data is accompanied by detailed technical documentation on how it was collected and processed. User guides provide additional information on the correct application of statistical analysis methods when using this data for in-depth analysis and, with the IEA International Database (IDB) Analyzer, IEA provides an analytical software tool that automatically accounts for the complexities of the data structure. Researchers are offered training in how to analyze data correctly as part of a broad portfolio of workshops designed for learning about fundamental and advanced concepts of large-scale comparative assessments of achievement in education.