Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) skills are increasingly required of students to be successful in higher education and the workforce. Therefore, modeling assessment outcomes accurately, often using more types of student data to get a complete picture of student learning, is increasingly relevant. The Program for International…

Secondary analyses of international large-scale assessments (ILSA) commonly characterize relationships between variables of interest using correlations. However, the accuracy of correlation estimates is impaired by artefacts such as measurement error and clustering. Despite advancements in methodology, conventional correlation estimates or…

With an increased focus on global competition, many educators and policymakers relied on international assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to evaluate the ability of their education system to prepare students for the global economy. Students in the United States continued to demonstrate disappointing…

Examining the testing processes, as well as the scores, is needed for a complete understanding of validity and fairness of computer-based assessments. Examinees' rapid-guessing and insufficient familiarity with computers have been found to be major issues that weaken the validity arguments of scores. This study has three goals: (a) improving…

Cross-national comparisons of responses to survey items are often affected by response style, particularly extreme response style (ERS). ERS varies across cultures, and has the potential to bias inferences in cross-national comparisons. For example, in both PISA and TIMSS assessments, it has been documented that when examined within countries,…

This dissertation examines a vital catalyst in the globalization of education: international assessments--that involve testing and rankings--of student achievement in academic subjects. Nearly all high-income countries participate in international assessments such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Progress in…

According to the 2006 Program for International Assessment (PISA), the United States is behind their international counterparts in the areas of mathematics and science. (Darling-Hammond, 2010). The Unites States is at a critical point in developing future leaders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. In preparing students for a…