The UNESCO paper explains in details how Large Scale Learning Assessments (LSLA) are influencing important education policies in more than half of the countries around the globe. It also unfolds the future possibilities of further LSLAs and how it is encouraged by the new emphasis on equitable, effective and relevant learning inherent to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the resulting focus on using data to improve policies and strategies. LSLAs have been gaining prominence in the last decades. They are a form of national or cross-national standardized testing that provide a snapshot of learning achievement for a group of learners in a given year and in a limited number of learning domains. Going beyond measuring reading and mathematics, they now increasingly target a greater number of domains, including digital skills, computer and information literacy, socio-emotional skills, or the understanding of concepts and issues related to civics and citizenship.
The benefits and advantages of LSLAs have been extensively reviewed in specialized literature, and there is growing recognition of the potential of assessment data to inform policy in a variety of ways. As a result, increasingly higher expectations have been placed on LSLAs as drivers of policy change over the past few decades. They are indeed expected to serve a range of uses, including monitoring, accountability, agenda-setting and analysis. The potential of such tools reaches far beyond reporting purposes. They can provide insight into areas in need of improvement and help pinpoint the most appropriate, promising and effective policy interventions.
To know further about the report and LSLAs, follow the link below.