The Role of the iPIPS Assessment in Providing High Quality Value Added Information on School and System Effectiveness within and between Countries

Despite the growing influence of international surveys of student achievements such as PISA, TIMSS, and PIRLS on policy, there is currently no international baseline study of children’s development on starting school. As a result, nobody knows for sure the extent to which the differences in performance between countries which are observed in these later assessments are already present when children start school, and the impact of educational policy and school effectiveness. This working paper describes the development of such an international study (iPIPS) which aims to help answer some key questions relating to early years and schooling. iPIPS takes as its basis, the Performance Indicators in Primary Schools (PIPS) On-entry baseline and follow-up assessments which were developed by the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) at Durham University (UK). PIPS has been used for twenty years in schools in a range of countries, providing a wealth of data for research purposes. iPIPS aims to collect assessment data from representative samples of children internationally. The paper will also report on the work undertaken in 2013-2014 to adapt and pilot the iPIPS instruments for use in Russia.