When analyzing large-scale assessments (LSAs) that use complex sampling designs, it is important to account for probability sampling using weights. However, the use of these weights in multilevel models has been widely debated, particularly regarding their application at different levels of the model. Yet, no consensus has been reached on the best…

This paper extends existing work on teacher weighting in student-centered surveys by looking into aspects of practical implementation of deriving and using weights for teacher-centered analysis in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). The formal…

Classical automated test assembly (ATA) methods assume fixed and known coefficients for the constraints and the objective function. This hypothesis is not true for the estimates of item response theory parameters, which are crucial elements in test assembly classical models. To account for uncertainty in ATA, we propose a chance-constrained…

Understanding whether or not different types of students master various attributes can aid future learning remediation. In this study, two-level diagnostic classification models (DCMs) were developed to represent the probabilistic relationship between external latent classes and attribute mastery patterns. Furthermore, variational Bayesian (VB)…

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study designed to measure trends in mathematics and science achievement at grades 4 and 8, as well as to collect information about educational contexts (such as students' schools, teachers, and homes) that may be related to student achievement. TIMSS has…

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study designed to measure trends in mathematics and science achievement at the fourth and eighth grades, as well as to collect information about educational contexts (such as students' schools, teachers, and homes) that may be related to student…

This research empirically evaluates data sets from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) for design effects of ignoring the sampling design in weighted two-level analyses. Currently, researchers may ignore the sampling design beyond the levels that they model which might result in incorrect inferences regarding hypotheses due to…

Large-scale assessment programs such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) use a sophisticated assessment administration design called matrix sampling that minimizes the testing burden on individual…

The purpose of this study was to explore the degree of grain size of the attributes and the sample sizes that can support accurate parameter recovery with the General Diagnostic Model (GDM) for a large-scale international assessment. In this resampling study, bootstrap samples were obtained from the 2003 Grade 8 TIMSS in Mathematics at varying…

In its analysis of data it collected in 2006, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) used a variety of statistical methods to arrive at the 'key findings' that school autonomy, school competition and the public posting of student achievement data were…

The "TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics" summarizes fourth and eighth grade student achievement in each of the 63 countries and 14 benchmarking entities which participated in TIMSS 2011. The report includes trends in mathematics achievement over time for participants in the previous TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007…