It is a much-lamented fact that research with the potential to inform or influence education policy instead remains policy inert. There are many reasons for this frustrating state of affairs, including a lack of strategic thinking on the part of researchers on how to successfully accomplish outreach--as opposed to communication with peers…

This paper discusses the emergence of the new global educational governance characterized by 1) global educational reform movement, 2) the active participation of the international organizations in global educational policy making, and 3) the emerging performative culture. Against this background, this article contextualizes the East Asian…

In a signal detection theory (SDT) approach to multiple choice exams, examinees are viewed as choosing, for each item, the alternative that is perceived as being the most plausible, with perceived plausibility depending in part on whether or not an item is known. The SDT model is a process model and provides measures of item difficulty, item…

The concept of financial literacy, which has become popular as a 21st-century skill, is also a new field for mathematics education. Financial literacy, which has taken place in PISA [Program for International Student Assessment] since 2012, has not only been presented as a separate course and has also increased in density in related courses such…

Multilevel bifactor item response theory (IRT) models are commonly used to account for features of the data that are related to the sampling and measurement processes used to gather those data. These models conventionally make assumptions about the portions of the data structure that represent these features. Unfortunately, when data violate these…

Two different tools for assessing pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of mathematics teachers used in the framework of the COACTIV study are systematically compared in this paper, namely the paper-and-pencil test consisting of items on the three facets "knowledge of explaining and representation," "knowledge of student thinking and…

Mathematical modeling plays an increasingly important role both in real-life applications--in engineering, business, the social sciences, climate study, advanced design, and more--and within mathematics education itself. This 2016 volume of "Annual Perspectives in Mathematics Education" ("APME") focuses on this key topic from a…

In the twenty-first century, the use of standardized tests as the primary means to evaluate schools and teachers in the United States has contributed to severe dilemmas, including misleading information on what students know, lower-level instruction, cheating, less collaboration, unfair treatment of teachers, and biased teaching. This article…

Model-based multiple imputation has become an indispensable method in the educational and behavioral sciences. Mean and covariance structure models are often fitted to multiply imputed data sets. However, the presence of multiple random imputations complicates model fit testing, which is an important aspect of mean and covariance structure…

During the last 20 years, there has been an increasing awareness that the U.S. is falling behind in its mathematics education of primary and secondary school students. For those who teach mathematics at the community college level, the deficiencies in mathematics education are painfully evident by the number of students requiring remedial math…

Even as the Internet and i-devices have changed so many parts of people's lives, educational testing has not changed substantially in decades. Though researchers and educators have for years raised ample concerns about existing tests, assessments have barely evolved. Further, despite years of expanded testing and greater school accountability,…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has been developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development to provide participating nations with internationally comparative mean literacy scores in reading, mathematics, and science for students nearing the end of compulsory schooling. The number of nations from the…

Scientific literacy is now seen as an essential component of informed citizenship and a key curriculum goal in many parts of the world. The relevant literature is vast and replete with a variety of definitions, descriptions, prescriptions, slogans and theoretical perspectives. It addresses not only formal education but also fields as diverse as…

In this article, the author tells the story of her search for appropriate tools to conceptualise policy work. She had set out to explore the relationship between the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Australia's education policy, but early interview data…

The theme of this paper is students' interest in future natural sciences-related careers. It is based on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment survey that in 2006 focused attention on the science literacy achievements of students. The paper uses the methods of linear regression modelling and structural equation modelling in…