Trend estimation in international comparative large-scale assessments relies on measurement invariance between countries. However, cross-national differential item functioning (DIF) has been repeatedly documented. We ran a simulation study using national item parameters, which required trends to be computed separately for each country, to compare…

Bracey looks at three well-known assessments--the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the Program of International Student Assessment, and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study--and concludes that their "instruction-insensitive" design makes them inappropriate as measures of education quality in schools, districts, states,…

This technical report describes a study that was undertaken to compare the content of three mathematics assessments conducted in 2003: the NAEP fourth-and eighth-grade assessments; the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which also assessed mathematics at the fourth-and eighth-grade levels; and the Program for…

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that measures 15-year-olds? capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy every 3 years. PISA was first implemented in 2000 and is carried out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an…