2011 National Assessment of Information Acquisition and Processing in the First Grade of Secondary Education in Flanders (A-stream)

In 2011 a national assessment was carried out, which was commissioned by the Flemish government, to assess to which extent students have sufficient skills to acquire and process information at the end of the first grade of secondary education (A-stream). This assessment is a reiteration of the previous assessment on information acquisition and processing in 2004. Data were collected through four tests: a test on consulting reference works, a test on working with tables and graphs, a test on structuring verbal information and a test on working with plans, drawings and maps. A representative sample of 2927 students from 97 Flemish secondary schools participated. Tests were supplemented with background questionnaires for students, parents and the pedagogical coordinator of the first grade. The student questionnaire included, among other things, questions on their interaction with teachers and their method of study. The parent questionnaire collected, among other things, information on their child and the family situation. The pedagogical coordinator was asked about the learning climate at school and what happens at school around learning to learn. The response rates to these questionnaires were 99% for the students, 98% for the parents and 97% for the pedagogical coordinator.