Evaluation expert to focus on international assessments of learning
°´¡³¢´¡²Ñ´¡´Ü°¿°¿â€”Dr. Hans Wagemaker, executive director of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, will make a special guest presentation at the Thursday, Feb. 13, Evaluation Café session in Room 204 of Western Michigan University's Bernhard Center.
The event, from noon to 1:30 p.m., is free and open to the public. Wagemaker, who is based in New Zealand, will speak on "International Large-Scale Assessments: TIMSS and PIRLS—A Guide to Understanding Learning Outcomes Locally and Globally."
Wagemaker's organization, IEA, created and implements two of the world's largest educational assessments—the Trends in International Math and Science Survey, commonly known as TIMSS, and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, or PIRLS. The assessments, done in more than 70 nations, regularly attract international media coverage and impact educational policy worldwide.
Hans Wagemaker
Wagemaker, who has led the IEA for the past 17 years, is responsible for planning and development of all IEA studies, monitoring their progress and raising funds for the organization. He was one of three co-founders of the literacy study.
Prior to taking the reins of the IEA, Wagemaker was senior manager of research for the New Zealand Ministry of Education and led a number of assessment initiatives for that nation. He has consulted for UNESCO and the Inter-American Development Bank and has served on scientific advisory committees for the World Bank. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana.