Use and Impact of TIMSS

National assessment frameworks in Italy have been inspired by TIMSS, PIRLS, and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) frameworks, and are updated continually according to these frameworks. In particular, TIMSS and PIRLS frameworks have provided a crucial reference point because they are strongly curriculum-based, as national assessments should be.

In order to improve Italian student performance in international assessments, information and training sessions on international and national assessment (i.e., TIMSS, PIRLS, and PISA) and their results were offered to teachers of Italian, mathematics, and science at every school type and level in Italy, as well as to teachers of adult education, from 2010 to 2012. This training initiative had two strategic objectives: increasing student reading comprehension and mathematical skills, and reducing the student dropout rate by increasing the familiarity of teachers with the evaluation methodology applied in these assessments. Another aim of the initiative was to spread a culture of evaluation in primary and secondary schools by providing teachers with diversified tools and materials including tests and scoring guidelines.35