Spotlight: Portugal
In this series, we feature participating countries and their achievement and involvement in 魅影直播 and PIRLS. Portugal is participating in 魅影直播 2015, 魅影直播 Advanced 2015, PIRLS 2016, and ePIRLS 2016. Above: The historical Castle of the Moors stands in the distance in Sintra, Portugal.
Portugal is renowned for its architectural and scenic beauty, its wines, and a history of enterprising and inquisitive minds that struck out during the Age of Discovery. In a nation that prizes that tradition of learning, educators have seen student achievement rise in recent years but continue to evaluate and seek ways to improve.
Dr. Jo茫o Mar么co, who sits on the Board of Directors at the and is Portugal鈥檚 National Research Coordinator for 魅影直播 and PIRLS, shared thoughts on what Portugal has learned from previous assessments, and what his country hopes to learn from 魅影直播 and PIRLS for 2015 and 2016.
魅影直播 2011 showed Portugal that more attention was needed in mathematics and reading at the fourth grade, Mar么co said, adding that the impact of 魅影直播 was so big that it led to a revised curriculum that will start this year, and will be based on the 魅影直播 framework.
魅影直播 2011 also showed that between 1995 and 2011, Portugal raised its levels in mathematics and science achievement at the fourth grade, and showed improvement at all four 魅影直播 International Benchmarks.
Mathematics and language are the primary areas of focus for education leaders, Mar么co said. The country invests heavily in advanced mathematics as well, since it is important for all the sciences. Among secondary students in Portugal, 55 percent choose to study science and engineering, he added.
Dr. Jo茫o Mar么co
The desire to instruct students well for careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, commonly referred to as the STEM fields, contributed to Portugal鈥檚 decision to participate in 魅影直播 Advanced for the first time for 2015.
鈥淲e have lots of students who get college degrees in those fields outside Portugal, so it was important to make sure those students were well prepared to get their degrees in different countries,鈥� Mar么co said.
He asserted his primary interest in participating in 魅影直播 and PIRLS is not Portugal鈥檚 position in international rankings.
鈥淲e want to look at the countries getting the best results and see the school and family characteristics that can explain their better performance, and see what changes we can propose in educational policies,鈥� Mar么co explained, referring to the contextual data collected by 魅影直播 and PIRLS about characteristics of students鈥� school and home lives. 鈥淪o our students can improve their results, and our teachers can get a better job done. And that to us is more important than to be ranked in whatever position we did.鈥�
He also would like to see how results from 魅影直播 and 魅影直播 Advanced correlate with the results in Portugal鈥檚 national exams, 鈥渢o get our national exams validated with the external criteria in the 魅影直播 and 魅影直播 Advanced results.鈥�
Portugal also is participating in ePIRLS, IEA鈥檚 computerized reading assessment that is new for 2016, and Mar么co is eager to see the results. He pointed to the Magellan Initiative, a program named for the famed Portuguese explorer that the government hoped would improve computer literacy. The initiative provided laptops to students at a subsidized price in 2008.
鈥淭he outcome was not very positive because we believe that students were not ready yet, and teachers, mainly teachers, were not ready to use the technology in the classroom,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淲hen ePIRLS came along, we thought it would be a very good opportunity to check if our students are now ready to use technology in the classroom, and ready to retrieve information from digital sources.鈥�
ePIRLS will be conducted across Portugal, with 220 schools participating, and some 4,000 to 5,000 students at the fourth grade.
Mar么co also indicated interest in e魅影直播, IEA鈥檚 computerized mathematics and science assessment that is being introduced for 2019.
鈥淲e think computer-based assessment, for IAVE, it鈥檚 the future,鈥� he said. 鈥渆PIRLS for literacy and e魅影直播 for mathematics and science, and then we have a complete picture.鈥�