This simulation study was prompted by the current increased interest in linking national studies to international large-scale assessments (ILSAs) such as IEA's TIMSS, IEA's PIRLS, and OECD's PISA. Linkage in this scenario is achieved by including items from the international assessments in the national assessments on the premise that the average…

Using data from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, this study examined the big-fish-little-pond-effects (BFLPEs) in 49 countries. In this study, the effect of math ability on math self-concept was decomposed into a within- and a between-level components using implicit mean centring and the complex data…

In this study, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2007 data were used to build mathematics achievement models of fourth graders in two East Asian school systems: Hong Kong and Singapore. In each school system, eight variables at student level and nine variables at school/class level were incorporated to build an achievement…

Many scales contain both positively and negatively worded items. Reverse recoding of negatively worded items might not be enough for them to function as positively worded items do. In this study, we commented on the drawbacks of existing approaches to wording effect in mixed-format scales and used bi-factor item response theory (IRT) models to…

International large-scale assessments are now part of the educational landscape in many countries and often feed into major policy decisions. Yet, such assessments also provide data sets for secondary analysis that can address key issues of concern to educators and policymakers alike. Traditionally, such secondary analyses have been based on a…

The "PIRLS 2016 Assessment Framework, 2nd Edition" provides the foundation for the three international assessments planned as part of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016: PIRLS, PIRLS Literacy, and ePIRLS. PIRLS represents the…

Are U.S. and, in particular, Hoosier students competitive and ready to succeed in an ever-changing and increasingly global economic landscape? This question is frequently considered by K-12 education stakeholders at all levels, including national, state, and local officials. One of the central ways in which education systems can compare themselves…

Over the past decade, international and national education agencies have begun to emphasize the improvement of the quality (rather than quantity) of education in developing countries. This trend has been paralleled by a significant increase in the use of educational assessments as a way to measure gains and losses in quality of learning. As…

Because developing reading literacy ability is vital to every student's growth and maturation, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, more widely known as IEA, has been conducting regular international assessments of reading literacy and the factors associated with its acquisition in countries around the world…