Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, ECER 2021 was held in an online format. Despite the non-traditional distance form, the attendance of the sessions was good and the discussions were rich and interesting. We did not experience any serious technical or organizational issues.
The conference programme consisted of 50 individual papers in 20 sessions, 2 symposia (with a total of 8 papers in 2 sessions), 2 posters, and 1 research workshop. In addition, the programme also comprises the annual Network 9 Keynote as an invited contribution.
Authors of the Network 9 submissions accepted for ECER 2021 were from 30 countries, reflecting the international composition of conference presentations.
Two symposia were organized in the conference program of Network 9. The symposia had the following themes:
- Assessing and Evaluating Civic and Citizenship Education: Northern Lights on the IEA ICCS Studies
- Grade Retention in Different European School Systems and its Effects on (Non-)academic Outcomes
Furthermore, 21 paper sessions were held in Network 9 with the following topics (in alphabetic order):
- Assessing and Evaluating Instruction and Interaction in Primary Education
- Assessing Mathematics and Reading Competencies with International-comparative Large-scale Data
- Assessments and Feedback in Higher Education o Assessments and Feedback in Primary and Secondary Education
- Assessments and Feedback in Schools and Higher Education
- Conditions and Consequences of Educational Choices – Part 1
- Conditions and Consequences of Educational Choices – Part 2
- Exploring Conditions of Students’ Self-concept, Self-efficacy and Subjective Well-being
- Exploring Structures and Processes of School Quality and School Effectiveness
- Exploring Students’ Civic Knowledge, ICT Competencies, and 21st Century Skills
- Exploring Teachers' Self-efficacy and Attitudes in International-comparative Perspectives
- Investigating Adult Competencies: Gender Differences, Skill Self-perceptions and Job Satisfaction
- Investigating Attitudes Towards and Uses of Assessment Data by Teachers and School Principals
- Investigating Challenges in High-stakes Exams and Assessment Policies
- Investigating Competencies and Attitudes in Computer-based Assessments
- Investigating Effects of Support Programmes and Supplements in Secondary Education for Students’ Achievement and Attitudes
- Investigating Student Teachers’ and Teachers’ Personal and Professional Attitudes and Perceptions
- Relating Quality of Instruction to Students’ Cognitive and Affective Outcomes
- Relating Reading Motivation and Behaviors to Reading Achievement – Findings from PIRLS and PISA
- Scrutinizing Grading in Course-based and Centralized Exams
- Tackling Methodological Challenges in Analyzing International-comparative Large-scale Assessment Data
A further contribution to the network program was a research workshop on the theme of “Analyzing Large-Scale Assessments and Surveys Data using R” organized by Plamen Mirazchiyski. This was the first full-day workshop in a pre-conference setting.
In terms of offers for capacity building and professional development, members of Network 9 gladly continued supporting the Emerging Researchers’ Conference (ERC) by participating in the review process and by serving as mentors for sessions in the ERC 2021.
For further details on the work and activities in Network 9 see the minutes of the network meeting at ECER 2021 and the different sections of the website of Network 9.