RISE Webinar Series
Browse past webinars >>
The Research on International Studies in Education (RISE) Webinar Series, organized by AIR, showcases research using data from international studies and promotes sharing and discussion about how data-based evidence can be used for improving educational outcomes.
Past Webinars
Browse all our past webinars, with recordings, or explore by topic:
- Early Childhood and Primary Education
- Secondary Education
- Postsecondary Education
- Teachers and Principals
- Adult Education and Skills
Early Childhood and Primary Education
Troubling Trends in Reading Habits and Attitudes: Evidence from PIRLS, PISA, and NAEP (June 10, 2021)
This webinar highlighted findings from a series of studies that examine trends in reading habits and motivations. Trends were examined across the international assessments—PISA, PIRLS, and NAEP.
What Do TIMSS and NAEP Tell Us About Gaps Between High- and Low-Performing 4th and 8th Graders? (February 24, 2021)
This presentation and discussion focused on the differences in scores (or “score gaps”) between high-performing and low-performing students using Grade 4 and Grade 8 results from TIMSS 2019 and recent data from NAEP.
Summary and recording >>
How Do Education Systems Differ Around the World? An Examination of OECD's Education at a Glance (November 14, 2018)
This webinar focused on the latest international results from the OECD’s 2018 Education at a Glance.
Summary and recording >>
International Results in Reading from PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016 (March 15, 2018)
This presentation was based on the PIRLS 2016 International Results in Reading report, including a discussion of achievement trends over time; performance at the PIRLS International Benchmarks; and achievement in relation to students’ home, school, and classroom educational contexts.
Summary and recording >>
20 Years of TIMSS: International Trends in Mathematics and Science Achievement, Curriculum, and Instruction (May 31, 2017)
This webinar focused on the 20 Years of TIMSS report and digs deeper in to the educational shifts and changes that have occurred in education systems around the globe.
Summary and recording >>
An Average Is Just an Average: What About Countries' Low- and High-Performing Students? (November 9, 2016)
Analyses of large-scale international assessment data normally focuses on countries' average student performance, but this focus provides little insight into a country’s success in educating its low-and high-performing students. This webinar focused on gaps in achievement between low- and high-performing students and whether these achievement gaps have narrowed or widened over time.
Summary and recording >>
Is Reading Contagious? Examining Parents’ and Children’s Reading Attitudes and Behaviors (July 13, 2016)
When children have positive attitudes and behavior towards reading, they generally also demonstrate strong reading skills. This presentation and discussion used PIRLS 2011 data to examine whether parents’ reading attitudes and behaviors are shared by their children—that is, if reading attitudes and behaviors are “contagious.”
Summary and recording >>
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students Who Are Academically Successful: Examining Academic Resilience Cross-Nationally (July 8, 2015)
Academically resilient students are students from disadvantaged backgrounds who succeed in school despite the odds against them. This webinar shares results from a study using TIMSS 2011 data to examine the prevalence of academic resilience cross-nationally and examines the factors associated with academic resilience within each country.
Summary and recording >>
Secondary Education
Student Misconceptions and Errors in Physics and Mathematics: Exploring Data from TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced (November 13, 2019)
This presentation and discussion is based on a study using 20 years of data (1995-2015) from the TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced assessments to examine patterns of student misconceptions and errors in one physics topic (gravity) and one mathematics topic (linear equations) in five countries across three grade levels.
Summary and recording >>
Socioeconomic Inequality and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Twenty Years of TIMSS (March 27, 2019)
Using evidence from twenty years of data from TIMSS, this webinar presented new insights into how educational inequality has changed in the education systems studied and how such change may relate to the more complex picture of macroeconomic changes in those societies.
Summary and recording >>
Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st Century: Evidence from PISA (May 2, 2018)
World-renowned researcher Dr. Annamaria Lusardi presented findings in this webinar related to the latest international results in financial literacy from the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Summary and recording >>
Different Modes of Curricular Differentiation at the School Level and Their Impact on Educational Inequality (May 5, 2016)
Two of the most common types of formal curricular differentiation in secondary schooling are course-by-course tracking and academic and vocational streaming; both have been criticized for segregating students by socioeconomic status. Using data from PISA, this presentation reviewed findings with a focus on comparing different types of curricular differentiation.
Summary and recording >>
The Use of Computers in School and the Skills of the “Net Generation” – Shedding Light on Myths About Digital Natives (December 3, 2015)
This presentation looked at computer and information literacy across countries and presented key findings from the International Computer and Information Literacy Study that called into question commonly held beliefs, such as that today’s students are digital natives and do not need to be taught CIL skills. The presentation also elaborated on how computers are being used in schools around the world.
Summary and recording >>
The Role of Schooling in Perpetuating Educational Inequality: An International Perspective (May 7, 2015)
This presentation and discussion on research by Bill Schmidt and others used data on mathematics achievement from PISA 2012. The webinar included a presentation by Dr. Schmidt with a follow-up discussion by Dr. Robert Rothman.
Summary and recording >>
Postsecondary Education
How Do College Completion Rates and Financial Aid Differ Around the World? (January 29, 2020)
This webinar highlighted findings from the OECD Education at a Glance 2019, which covers 36 countries that account for 80 percent of world trade.
Summary and recording >>
Exploring the Experiences and Skills of Young Adults in the United States (February 6, 2019)
These two February 2019 presentations focused on the experiences and skills of young adults in the United States. The first focused on the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), the second on data from the OECD’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC).
Summary and recording >>
America’s Skills Challenge: Millennials and the Future (February 24, 2016)
Using PIAAC data, this presentation explored the paradox for U.S. millennials (born after 1980, ages 16-34): while they may be on track to be our most educated generation ever, they consistently score below many of their international peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. Equally troubling is that these findings represent a decrease in literacy and numeracy skills when compared to results from previous years of U.S. adult surveys.
Summary and recording >>
Teachers and Principals
Do Teachers Teach Less in Classrooms with Students with Special Needs? Trends and Predictors from International Data (October 26, 2017)
This discussion on the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms uses 2013 data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). Analysis identified factors that may explain disparities in instructional time between inclusive and non-inclusive classrooms.
Summary and recording >>
Conditions and Practices Associated with Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Instruction in TALIS 2013 (October 1, 2015)
Using OECD’s TALIS 2013 data, this presentation covered findings that explore the school conditions and practices of teachers that are associated with their participation in professional development and the reported impacts on their instruction. The focus was on the general patterns observed across OECD countries and differences between countries.
Summary and recording >>
International Contrasts in the Teaching Profession: Results from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) (February 25, 2015)
This webinar used TALIS 2013 data, which represents the voice of teachers, to explore contrasts in the teaching profession across countries.
Summary and recording >>
Adult Education and Skills
PIAAC Skills Map: Implications for Research, Policy and Practice (August 26, 2020)
This webinar featured a demonstration of a new interactive data tool recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics that provides easy access to new information about the literacy and numeracy proficiency of adults ages 16-74 in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all 3,141 counties across the United States, as well as the ability to view side-by-side comparisons of performance for individual states and counties.
Summary and recording >>
PIAAC Prison Study: An Overview of the Skills of U.S. Incarcerated Adults (February 22, 2017)
This presentation and discussion focused on a recently released report using data from PIAAC which provided information on skills and competencies of incarcerated adults, comparing to that of adults in U.S. households.
Summary and recording >>
All Webinars
Troubling Trends in Reading Habits and Attitudes: Evidence from PIRLS, PISA, and NAEP
This June 2021 webinar highlighted findings from a series of studies that examine trends in reading habits and motivations. Trends were examined across the international assessments—Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)—and the United States’ National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP).
Results from the analyses of international studies show downward reading trends, with the more recent studies showing students reading less and having more negative attitudes toward reading than their peer group 15-20 years prior. NAEP results from 2017 to 2019 also show eighth graders in 2019 on average having more negative attitudes toward reading and reading less. Although evidence does not support a causal link, the NAEP declines in reading frequency and attitudes at the eighth grade align with a decline in reading achievement during that recent two-year timeframe.
What Do TIMSS and NAEP Tell Us About Gaps Between High- and Low-Performing 4th and 8th Graders?
This February 2021 presentation and discussion focused on the differences in scores (or “score gaps”) between high-performing and low-performing students using Grade 4 and Grade 8 results from the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and recent data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP).
For this webinar, high-performing students are those who scored in the 90th percentile (or top 10 percent), and low-performing students are those who scored in the 10th percentile (or bottom 10 percent). These data provide insights regarding equity within the U.S. and other education systems and can help inform important education policy discussions that aim to address performance gaps.
Highlighted findings addressed the following questions:
- How large is the score gap between high- and low-performing students in mathematics and science in the United States compared to other education systems on TIMSS? And, how do these score gaps for U.S. states compare to each other on NAEP?
- Are U.S. 4th and 8th-grade students making progress in mathematics and science at selected percentiles?
- How have the score gaps between high- and low-performing students changed over time?
PIAAC Skills Map: Implications for Research, Policy and Practice
Adult Skills in Literacy and Numeracy at the State and County Levels
According to recent PIAAC data, roughly 1 in 5 U.S. adults lacks basic literacy skills, while nearly 1 in 3 lacks basic numeracy skills.
This August 2020 webinar featured a demonstration of an interactive data tool recently released by the National Center for Education Statistics that provides easy access to new information about the literacy and numeracy proficiency of adults ages 16-74 in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and all 3,141 counties across the United States, as well as the ability to view side-by-side comparisons of performance for individual states and counties. The Skills Map allows users to select state- and county-level demographic information such as educational attainment, race/ethnicity, employment status, and poverty level, to better understand the results produced for each state or county.
The discussion covered the potential uses of the data from a policy and research perspective, which relates to the workforce, adult basic education, and training.
How Do College Completion Rates and Financial Aid Differ Around the World?
This webinar from January 2020 highlighted findings from OECD Education at a Glance 2019, which covers 36 countries that account for 80 percent of world trade.
Key messages included:
- College completion and attainment rates across the OECD countries aren’t great. Many countries struggle with this, particularly when it comes to supporting students who are new to the higher education system.
- Institutions could do a lot more to support students who want to go to college and earn a degree. Some countries do really well at this. Some focus on high standards and preparation before students get to college. Shorter postsecondary programs also may be easier for students to complete.
- Completion and financial aid may be related, but it’s complicated. In the U.S., financing is an issue, and students lead complicated lives that can disrupt their college educations (e.g., life events like forming a family, having kids, working, changing jobs, changing interests, caring for a family member). Some promising strategies to address these issues: social supports and coaching to help students to navigate the system, improving academic operational policies, and providing students with microgrants “to pay the one bill they can’t make.”
- Everyone is worried about equity—whether higher education institutions are providing opportunities for students from low-income backgrounds to rise up; this is particularly important in the U.S.
Student Misconceptions and Errors in Physics and Mathematics: Exploring Data from TIMSS and TIMSS Advanced
This November 2019 presentation discussed a recent study about students’ misconceptions and errors in physics and mathematics conducted for the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement Research for Education Series.
The study used 20 years of data (1995-2015) from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and TIMSS Advanced assessments to examine patterns of student misconceptions and errors in one physics topic (gravity) and one mathematics topic (linear equations) in five countries (Italy, Norway, the Russian Federation, Slovenia, and the United States) across three grade levels (4, 8, and 12). Trend items administered in multiple assessment cycles were used to explore how the frequency of misconceptions and errors changed over time.
The results from the study show both how the misconceptions and errors demonstrated by students at the upper grade levels can be traced back to a lack of a foundational understanding of physics and mathematics concepts in the earlier grades and that the frequency of some types of misconceptions and errors decreased over time, while the frequency of others increased.
Socioeconomic Inequality and Educational Outcomes: Evidence from Twenty Years of TIMSS
Education systems generally aim to narrow the achievement gap between students of low and high socioeconomic status (SES) and to improve the performance of disadvantaged students. However, the lack of quantifiable and comprehensible measures makes it difficult to assess and monitor the effect of such efforts.
This March 2019 webinar is based on a study that uses 20 years of data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to examine changes in the inequality of educational outcomes due to SES and the extent to which the performance of students from disadvantaged backgrounds has improved over time in each education system. The study uses a novel measure of SES that is consistent across all TIMSS cycles, allowing students to be categorized into different socioeconomic groups.
The webinar presented new insights into how educational inequality has changed in the education systems studied and how such change may relate to the more complex picture of macroeconomic changes in those societies.
Exploring the Experiences and Skills of Young Adults in the United States
These two February 2019 presentations focused on the experiences and skills of young adults in the United States:
The first presentation focused on the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), which is the fourth in a series of secondary longitudinal studies conducted by NCES since the 1970s to study young adult progression through high school and into young adulthood, with data on outcomes such as postsecondary education and early careers. The study includes findings related to the following questions:
- What are the critical transitions made by the cohort of 2002 high school sophomores through college into adult careers?
- What factors influence these transitions?
- What are the multiple perspectives on student’s educational experiences?
- What are the education and career statuses of the 2002 sophomores in 2012?
The second presentation used data from the OECD’s Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to discuss skills of U.S. young adults (those 16-34 at the time of the data collection) and draws on two reports written for the ETS Center for Research on Human Capital and Education. A brief introduction to the PIAAC database and NCES data products is followed by a discussion of the performance of U.S. millennials compared to that of their international peers. In addition, the presentation looked at the size and characteristics of low-skilled U.S. millennials and the implications of this for society more broadly.
How Do Education Systems Differ Around the World? An Examination of OECD's Education at a Glance
This presentation from November 2018 focused on the latest international results from the OECD’s 2018 Education at a Glance. Highlighted findings related to the following questions:
- How much time do students in the United States spend in the classroom compared to their international peers?
- How do early childhood education systems differ around the world?
- How do salaries for teachers and school heads vary by country?
- How can I find and work with these data?
Financial Literacy Skills for the 21st Century: Evidence from PISA
In this May 2018 discussion, world-renowned researcher Dr. Annamaria Lusardi presented findings focusing on the latest international results in financial literacy from the 2015 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA).
Topics included:
- Why is financial literacy so important for today's students and young people?
- Cross-nationally, which education policy initiatives emphasize financial literacy?
- How are socioeconomic status and per capita GDP associated with financial literacy outcomes?
International Results in Reading from PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016
This March 2018 presentation and discussion focused on the latest international results in reading from PIRLS and ePIRLS 2016. In 2016, IEA and its TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College conducted the fourth assessment in the PIRLS series as well as the inaugural ePIRLS assessment of online informational reading. Administered every five years, PIRLS monitors international trends in reading achievement at the fourth grade. In 2016, a total of 319,000 students from 61 international education systems participated in the PIRLS assessment.
The presentation provides information about student achievement on PIRLS and ePIRLS and describes achievement trends over time; performance at the PIRLS International Benchmarks; and achievement in relation to students’ home, school, and classroom educational contexts.
Do Teachers Teach Less in Classrooms with Students with Special Needs? Trends and Predictors from International Data
While studies have examined when and how much inclusion is appropriate for students with disabilities, there is less research on how inclusion may negatively impact students without disabilities in the same classroom. Using 2013 data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), the presentation addressed some parents' concern that, due to the additional needs of students with disabilities, teachers may spend less time teaching in inclusive classrooms. Through analyses of 121,173 teacher responses from 38 participating education systems, factors are identified that may explain disparities in instructional time between inclusive and non-inclusive classrooms.
This October 2017 conversation about the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms, a cornerstone of special education policy in the United States and many countries included the following points:
- The findings indicate that teachers in classrooms with a greater percentage of students with special needs do spend less time teaching.
- In classrooms in which 11-30% of students have special needs, teachers spend about 76% of their class time on teaching, compared to 81% in classrooms without any students with special needs, on average.
- The disparity is wider in many countries, including Singapore (77% vs. 60%), Japan (82% vs. 72%), and Sweden (87% vs. 77%).
- Teacher and school characteristics do not explain the variation in class time spent on teaching. Instead, the disparity in teaching time in inclusive and less inclusive classrooms is fully attenuated when accounting for classroom student characteristics, particularly the proportion of students with behavioral problems.
20 Years of TIMSS: International Trends in Mathematics and Science Achievement, Curriculum, and Instruction
In May 2017, AIR hosted a presentation and discussion on 20 Years of TIMSS, digging deeper in to the educational shifts and changes that have occurred in education systems around the globe.
TIMSS’ administration in 2015 marked 20 years of this assessment being operationalized, which allows researchers and policymakers to gain a sense of changes in student achievement, curriculum and instruction, and student background variables over a 20 year period.
PIAAC Prison Study: An Overview of the Skills of U.S. Incarcerated Adults
Explore the PIAAC Gateway >>
Compared to the household population, the incarcerated population is disproportionately male, Black, and Hispanic, relatively younger, and has lower levels of educational attainment.
This February 2017 presentation and discussion focused on a report using data from the Program for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The report provided information on skills and competencies of incarcerated adults, comparing to that of adults in U.S. households, as well as the extent of inmates’ participation in formal education, empowerment classes (such as parenting or personal finance management), and job training programs.
An Average Is Just an Average: What About Countries' Low- and High-Performing Students?
Analyses of large-scale international assessment data often focus on average student performance; however, such a focus provides little insight into a country’s success in educating students across the achievement distribution, especially its low- and high-performing students.
Published reports from large-scale international assessments have included tables with percentiles of achievement that show how scores at the 10th and 90th percentiles compare across countries. However, prior research has not systematically examined and statistically tested these gaps in achievement between low- and high-performing students and whether these achievement gaps have narrowed or widened over time. In this webinar from November 2016, the results of these analyses using mathematics data from TIMSS were presented.
Is Reading Contagious? Examining Parents’ and Children’s Reading Attitudes and Behaviors
When children have positive reading attitudes and behaviors, they generally also demonstrate strong reading skills. This July 2016 presentation and discussion examined whether parents’ reading attitudes and behaviors are shared by their children—that is, if reading attitudes and behaviors are “contagious.” Using data from the 2011 Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), the webinar addressed the following questions, looking across fourth-grade students and their parents in 50 diverse education systems:
- Do children and parents enjoy reading and read frequently for fun?
- Do children share their parents' positive reading attitudes and behaviors?
- Do some children—i.e. girls compared to boys, or children whose parents have a university degree compared to those whose don’t—share their parents’ positive reading attitudes and behaviors more than others?
Different Modes of Curricular Differentiation at the School Level and Their Impact on Educational Inequality
Two of the most common types of formal curricular differentiation in secondary schooling are course-by-course tracking and academic and vocational streaming. Both forms of curricular differentiation have been criticized for segregating students by socioeconomic status (SES) and directing low-SES students into lower-status educational trajectories.
Using data from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), this May 2016 presentation reviewed findings from this emerging literature with a focus on comparing different types of curricular differentiation by the extent of SES segregation between tracks, student achievement, academic self-concept, educational aspirations, and resulting levels of social inequality in educational attainment.
America’s Skills Challenge: Millennials and the Future
There is concern about the growing inequality of opportunity in the United States and the impact this has on both skills acquisition and outcomes for current and future generations. Using data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this February 2016 presentation explored the paradox for U.S. millennials (born after 1980, ages 16-34): while they may be on track to be our most educated generation ever, they consistently score below many of their international peers in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving in technology-rich environments. Equally troubling is that these findings represent a decrease in literacy and numeracy skills when compared to results from previous years of U.S. adult surveys.
The Use of Computers in School and the Skills of the “Net Generation” – Shedding Light on Myths About Digital Natives
In 2013, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's International Computer and Information Literacy Study (ICILS) assessed eighth-grade students’ learning and knowledge in computer and information literacy (CIL) skills. What can the United States learn from the 21 countries that participated in this study?
In December 2015, this presentation looked at computer and information literacy across countries and presented key findings from the study that called into question commonly held beliefs, such as that today’s students are digital natives and do not need to be taught CIL skills. The presentation also elaborated on how computers are being used in schools around the world.
Conditions and Practices Associated with Teacher Professional Development and Its Impact on Instruction in TALIS 2013
Improving the quality of teaching is a key concern for many countries and teacher professional development is often seen as a mechanism for doing so. Using OECD's Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2013 data, this October 2015 presentation covered findings that explore the school conditions and practices of teachers that are associated with their participation in professional development and the reported impacts on their instruction. The presentation focused on the general patterns observed across OECD countries and looked at differences between countries. Implications for policy and practice were also discussed.
Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Students Who Are Academically Successful: Examining Academic Resilience Cross-Nationally
Academically resilient students are students from disadvantaged backgrounds who succeed in school despite the odds against them. Using data from the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), this July 2015 discussion examined the prevalence of academic resilience cross-nationally and examines the factors associated with academic resilience within each country. If educators, policymakers, and others can understand what factors may have contributed to disadvantaged students succeeding against the odds, then they may be better able to support similar students in improving their academic performance.
The Role of Schooling in Perpetuating Educational Inequality: An International Perspective
This May 2015 presentation and discussion on research by Bill Schmidt and others used data on mathematics achievement from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2012. The webinar included a presentation by Dr. Schmidt with a follow-up discussion by Dr. Robert Rothman. The experts noted that:
- In every participating country, students from more affluent backgrounds receive more opportunities to learn mathematics.
- These inequalities are strongly related to inequalities in student achievement.
- Internationally speaking, roughly a third of achievement gaps between richer and poorer students are due to inequalities in opportunities to learn mathematics.
- There are important differences between countries in the structure of inequality related to opportunities to learn mathematics, specifically whether it is more strongly related to between-school or within-school differences. However, in every country the majority of variation occurs within schools, not between them.
International Contrasts in the Teaching Profession: Results from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS)
This February 2015 webinar used 2013 data from the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS), which represents the voice of teachers, to explore contrasts in the teaching profession across countries.
Some key issues discussed included:
- Most U.S. teachers are satisfied with their jobs but do not feel their profession is valued by society. Do teachers in other countries generally feel this way?
- U.S. teachers spend more time on teaching than teachers in any other country. What does this tell us?
- U.S. teachers are engaged in multiple types of professional learning. How does this compare with other countries?