Assessment Framework

Abstract

As an international, nonprofit cooperative of national research institutions and governmental research agencies, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has conducted more than 30 large-scale comparative studies in countries around the world. These studies have reported on educational policies, practices, and learning outcomes on a wide range of topics and subject matters. These investigations have proven to be a key resource for monitoring educational quality and progress within individual countries and across a broad international context. The International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) follows a series of earlier IEA studies that had, as their particular focus, information and communication technologies (ICT) in education. The first of these, the Computers in Education Study (COMPED), was carried out in 1989 and again in 1992 for the purpose of reporting on the educational use of computers in the context of emerging governmental initiatives to implement ICT in schools. The next series of projects in this area was the Second Information Technology in Education Study (SITES), conducted in 1998–1999 (Module 1), 2001 (Module 2), and 2006. These projects provided an update on the implementation of computer technology resources in schools and their utilization in the teaching process. The continuing rapid development of computer and other information technologies has transformed the environment in which young people access, create, and share information. Many countries, having recognized the imperative of digital technology in all its forms, acknowledge the need to educate their citizens in the use of these technologies so that they and their society can secure the future economic and social benefits of proficiency in the use of digital technologies. Within this context, many questions relating to the efficacy of instructional programs and how instruction is progressed in the area of digital literacy arise. ICILS represents the first international comparative study to investigate how students are developing the set of knowledge, understanding, attitudes, dispositions, and skills that comprise computer and information literacy (CIL) in order to participate effectively in the digital age. The aim of ICILS is to report on student achievement by way of an authentic computer-based assessment. In order to help explain variations in CIL outcomes internationally and to inform policymakers on the possible contribution of education systems for digital CIL as an essential skill, ICILS will also capture information about the broader in- and out-of-school contexts in which student proficiency is developed. This publication, the ICILS Assessment Framework, describes the background, constructs, and design of the assessment. The framework development process—as in all IEA studies—was a highly collaborative effort that benefitted from the contributions of a number of individuals and groups involved in the study. The project advisory committee (PAC) and study participants were instrumental in this effort.