"Introduction The origins of modern day international assessments of student skills are often traced back to the First International Mathematics Study (FIMS) conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) in the early 1960s. The undertaking of an international project at that time, with few modern technological conveniences to speak of (no email, fax, internet and only minimal access to international phone lines) and a shoestring budget, speaks to the dedication and vision of the scholars that were willing to attempt such a feat. The first executive director of the IEA, T. Neville Postlethwaite (1933-2009), once recounted the story of sending off the first round of assessments and not knowing for months if the assessment booklets had even arrived at their destinations, let alone whether or not the assessment was actually being administered in the 12 countries that initially participated"--