- Research Article
- 10.12973/eu-jer.15.2.603
Pre-service Teachers’ Attitudes and Knowledge of International Large-Scale Assessments and Their Role in School Quality Assurance
- Feb 18, 2026
- European Journal of Educational Research
- Vesna Podgornik + 3 more +3
International large-scale assessments such as PISA, TIMSS, PIRLS, and TALIS are among the most important tools available to policymakers and educational stakeholders for informing evidence-based decision-making in quality assurance processes. However, little is known about how pre-service teachers understand and evaluate the usefulness of this research. This study investigated pre-service teachers' attitudes towards the role of international large-scale assessments in quality assurance processes, as well as their factual knowledge in this field. We conducted a web-based survey of 85 master’s students, which included an attitude scale and a knowledge test. The results showed that participants generally expressed positive attitudes towards using international large-scale assessment results in quality processes, but their factual knowledge was low. Furthermore, we found that factual knowledge did not differ significantly between students with very positive and those with less positive attitudes, as the Mann–Whitney test was not statistically significant (p = .186) and the effect size was small (r = .16; PS = .582). These findings indicate a gap between endorsement of international large-scale assessments and the knowledge required for informed use, suggesting that initial teacher education should integrate compulsory, practice-oriented international large-scale assessment literacy (e.g., interpreting national reports, subgroup gaps, and translating results into lesson planning and school self-evaluation).
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