Annual Report 2010, Helsinki

Conference Programme 2010

As in 2009, Network 9 was represented at the ECER 2010 Conference in Helsinki (Finland) with a good number of sessions. The conference programme of Network 9 consisted of 27 sessions with a total number of 76 papers and an additional joint Research Workshop with Network 13. Further, 6 posters were presented. The sessions attracted a varied audience due to the range of different topics presented, with 15 to 25 people attending on average. Single key sessions, especially in the symposia, had more than 50 participants.

The network programme contained five symposia:

1. Towards Explaining Achievement – Findings from International Comparative Achievement Studies
(Symposium Organizers: Tjeerd Plomp, Wilfried Bos, Martin Goy and Pekka Kupari)
In sum, the symposium included 14 papers. The papers were organized into five thematic sessions on the following topics:

Relationships in Reading Performance – Country Analyses
Relationships in Reading Performance – Multiple Comparisons'
Relationships in Science Performance
Performance Issues in Different Subject Domains (Part I)
Performance Issues in Different Subject Domains (Part II)

2. Assessing Social Competence in Childhood and Adolescence

(Symposium Organizer: Karl-Heinz Arnold)
This symposium included four papers, which were organized in one thematic session on the symposium topic.

3. Modeling Longitudinal and Trend Data
(Symposium Organizers: Wilfried Bos, Miriam M. Gebauer and Tobias C. Stubbe)
This symposium contained two sessions on the overall symposium topic with a total number of six papers and an introductory presentation by the symposium organizers.

4. Social Disparities in Educational Research I to III
(Symposium Organizers: Tobias C. Stubbe and Magdalena Buddeberg)
Altogether, this symposium included seven papers, which were organized in 3 thematic sessions on the overall symposium topic.

5. The Development of Regional Modules for the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study
(Symposium Organizer: Mei-Hui Liu)
This symposium included 3 papers in one session.

Paper Sessions

• Assessing Students' Attitudes, Behaviors, and Achievement
• Assessment in Higher Education
• Assessment: Methods and Applications (three sessions)
• Assessment in Elementary and Primary Education
• Assessing and Evaluating Student Achievement in Different Contexts
• International Large-Scale Assessments of Student Performance (two sessions)
• Relating Student Performance to Grades, Motivation and Socio-Economic Status
• Issues in Language and Literacy Assessment
• The EERQI Project: European Educational Research Quality Indicators
• Findings from Longitudinal and Intervention Studies of Student Performance
• International and National Assessments of Student Performance
• Issues in Computer-Based Assessment

In addition to the paper submissions, our network programme also contained 6 posters. This is about the same number as last ECER.

Further, we held a joint Research Workshop with Network 13 (Philosophy of Education) with two paper sessions on the topic of Cultural Diversity in Educational Experience – The Kind of Research Evidence that Matters. This workshop was organized by Network 13, who invited our network to send a discussant. The workshop was stimulating and well-attended, and we thank Network 13 for this offer of a joint discussion on the implications of evidence-based research in education.

Network 9 also provided two inputs for the Pre-Conference of ECER 2010. Our network was invited to hold a Panel Talk on the Challenge of Quantitative Research, and to run a workshop on Cross-sectional and Longitudinal Research Designs in Educational Assessments.

The overall intake of submissions was slightly lower as in 2009, with a total number of about 120 submissions before rejections, redirections and late withdrawals.

This meeting was attended by about 25 network members, and was held by the Link Convenor of Network 9, Wilfried Bos, in co-operation with his co-convenors Pekka Kupari and Tjeerd Plomp. Seven main topics were addressed:

1. Network 9 Programme Overview
For the overview of the submissions in Network 9, please refer to the above sections of this report.

2. Acknowledgement of Chairs, Discussants, and Reviewers
In sum, 25 Chair Persons and Discussants from 12 countries were included in the ECER 2010 programme of Network 9. Our network is indebted to the commitment of these scholars, and to the large number of international researchers who support the network by participating in the review process for the ECER conferences. The Network Convenors thanked all chair persons, discussants and reviewers for volunteering their valuable time and expertise, and for contributing to the conference organization and the scientific quality of the research presented in Network 9.

The names of the Chairs and Discussants are listed in the conference programme. In order to make the effort of the reviewers visible as well, it was proposed and decided to include an acknowledgement with a list of the reviewers on the Network website.

3. Suggestions for ECER 2011
Symposia were considered a very relevant part of the Network programme with a focused topic of the papers presented, a cohesive discussion, and a good turnout of audience. For ECER 2011, the submission of symposia was therefore encouraged.

For young researchers, the Network Convenors proposed to encourage submissions of posters, as this format of presentation allows to participate in the ECER conference with a first contribution without having to shoulder the more challenging task of a paper presentation especially for those with a limited proficiency in the English language.

4. Proposal of Network Membership
Tjeerd Plomp suggested proposing to EERA the idea of an individual EERA membership to encourage and facilitate the development of ‘communities of researchers’. This idea was concordantly supported by Wilfried Bos and Pekka Kupari, as well as by the members of Network 9 present. It was decided that Wilfried Bos as the Link Convenor will present this idea to EERA.

5. Network Activities: Publications
Network 9 works on several international, peer-reviewed publications that derive from symposia held at ECER 2009 and ECER 2010:

• A Special Double Issue of the journal Educational Research and Evaluation (ERE) on the topic of Rasch Measurement in Educational Contexts.
• Special journal issues of the Journal for Educational Research Online (JERO) on the topics of
• Assessing Social Competencies in Childhood and Adolescence
• Social Disparities in Educational Research
• Issues in International Large-scale Assessments of Student Performance

6. Spring School on Advanced Methods in Educational Research in 2011 and 2012
Wilfried Bos presented the plans for two one-week spring schools on advanced empirical research methods and statistical tools in 2011 and 2012. This will be a joint project of the Institute for School Development Research at TU Dortmund University, Germany, and the Department of Education at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, co-ordinated by Wilfried Bos (Dortmund) as well as Monica Rosén and Jan-Eric Gustafsson (Gothenburg).

The schools aim to bring together European emerging researchers, train them on methodological topics, promote exchange of research and offer the opportunity for capacity building and international research collaborations. The proposed topics of the spring schools are:

• Combining Categorical and Continuous Latent Variable Modeling (2011, University of Dortmund)
• Econometric Tools for Causal Analysis (2012, University of Gothenburg)

Further information will be available in October/November 2010, to be distributed through the Network Website and different international information platforms and mailing lists.

7. EERQI
In addition to these six topics, the Network Business Meeting also included a short presentation on the European Educational Research Quality Indicators to spread information on this project throughout the networks of EERA. Network 9 supports the EERQI project and encourages researchers to participate. For further information on this project, please refer to: www.eerqi.eu