Overall 17 countries representing a wide range of cultures and languages are participating in the feasibility study. Latest project update shows that in a second phase the practical aspects of assessing students learning outcomes are now examined. The three assessment instruments (generic skills, economics and engineering) are implemented in a small group of diverse higher education institutions to explore the best ways to implicate, involve and motivate leaders, faculty and students to take part in the testing.

In addition, the data collected as part of this second phase will enable a range of psychometric analyses such as bias analyses and in-depth examination of the validity and reliability of the construct performance measures. The dataset shall also allow preliminary analysis on the relationships between context and learning outcomes, and the factors leading to enhanced outcomes.

With the completion of the feasibility study in December 2012, final reports on the outcomes, findings and lessons learned will assist countries in deciding on the next step to improving higher education quality. Furthermore, an international conference to be held on 14-15 March 2013 in Utrecht (the Netherlands) will provide a great opportunity to gather technical experts, country representatives and different stakeholder groups to discuss these findings.

According to the support programme for educational studies in Latvia, in 2011 the Latvian government approved the participation in PISA 2015 and TALIS 2013, however not in AHELO. Nevertheless, the potential for Latvia's participation in the forthcoming AHELO cycles is still open.

Source: OECD

More information about AHELO project and status updates is available here.