Administration
After a successful field trial of processes, instruments and enhancements in 2020, PILNA 2021 was implemented across the Pacific region.
The start was delayed for approximately five weeks because of challenges encountered with Covid-19, the production of the test materials in Fiji, and sending the materials to the 15 countries.
The administration window was widened to run from 1 November to 4 December 2021. This provided maximum flexibility in administration. One country administered PILNA 2021 in March 2022.
The instruments listed below were trialed in 2020 and administered during the PILNA 2021 data collection activities.
- Numeracy, reading, and writing assessments in year four and year six (cognitive instruments)
- Student questionnaire (contextual instrument)
- Teacher questionnaire (contextual instrument)
- Head teacher/principal questionnaire (contextual instrument)
PILNA 2021 was administered over two days in each of the 15 participating countries. The cognitive instruments were administered in 10 languages and the contextual instruments were administered in eight languages (see Table RNT3.2).
Each student test booklet was assigned a specific identification number that was printed on the test booklet cover. Student information was also included in pre-registration forms submitted to by each country. Student identification numbers were used to track the distribution of test papers during administration.
Instruments and administration materials were sent to country education offices from August to October 2021 for distribution by national coordinators to the participating schools. These materials included the cognitive instruments, the contextual instruments, and the implementation manuals for the national coordinators, school coordinators, and test supervisors.
Soft copies of the implementation manuals were sent prior to the materials dispatch. Administration instruction videos for school coordinators and test supervisors supplemented the manuals.
Administration training was conducted by each national coordinator for the school coordinators in school clusters. The school coordinators subsequently trained the test supervisors at each of their schools. School coordinators who were not able to attend the training by the national coordinator were provided with test administration videos for subsequent training.
