A web-based activity and testing system (WATS) has features such as adaptive problem sets, videos, and data-driven tools for instructors to monitor and scaffold student learning. Central to WATS adoption and use are questions about the implementation process: What constitutes "good" implementation and how far from "good" is…

States are increasingly focusing the mission of their elementary and secondary education systems on preparing all students for success in postsecondary education and 21st century careers. As standards have increased, so too have graduation requirements. Today, 20 states and the District of Columbia have adopted such high school graduation…

This call to action is based on a simple but important premise: The nation cannot allow college placement policies, processes, and instruments to undermine promising efforts to increase student success in mathematics and increase attainment of STEM credentials. Efforts to redesign math pathways hold great promise for improving the teaching and…

This study investigates whether the functions linking number-correct scores to the College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) scaled scores remain invariant over gender groups, using test data on the 16 testlet-based forms of the CLEP College Algebra exam. To be consistent with the operational practice, linking of various test forms to a common…

In addition to data on overall performance since 1973, this article presents NAEP data on items that were recently released to the public. They are presented as examples of current student achievement in relation to achievement in the 1980s. Performance was stable or improving on most of the released items, with greatest improvement on items…

The North Carolina End-of-Course Testing Program was established to provide student, school, and school system information about achievement in high school courses. The 59,723 students who took the Algebra I End-of-Course Test in 1987-88 were a subgroup of the school population in the eighth through twelfth grades. The proportion of students…

The North Carolina End-of-Course Testing Program was established to provide student, school, and school system information about achievement in high school courses. It appears that more than 40 percent of a class of students and approximately 60 percent of Algebra I students take Algebra II. Each Algebra II student took a test containing one of…

Replication of the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) in Ontario, Canada, is described and assessed. The curriculum and testing program covers numerical methods, geometry, and algebra. Whereas classical studies focused on mean scores of a system's students and on percentages of teachers for opportunity to learn (OTL), SIMS aggregates…

The North Carolina Test of Algebra II was developed for use as an achievement test following the completion of the Algebra II course of study. Its design serves two purposes: (1) a normative measure of student achievement; and (2) an objective-based measurement of curriculum coverage. The test's curricular validity, content validity, instructional…

The results of the first report on the mathematical abilities of 13 and 17 year-olds by the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) are summarized and interpreted. A similar article for elementary school mathematics appears in SE 514 769. (SD) Aspect of National Assessment (NAEP) dealt with in this document: Results (Interpretation).

The Texas Educational Assessement of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated as new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) was developed by the Texas Education Agency (TEA), in response to Texas House Bill 72 (1984), which mandated a new basic skills assessment program for mathematics, reading, and writing at grades 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 and 11. This is one in a series of Instructional Strategies Guides designed to…

Dr. Charles Pine responds to questions concerning the definition of good teaching; his personal instructional approaches; New Jersey's basic skills testing program for college freshmen; ways to improve math instruction; and the New Jersey Algebra Project, a three-year curriculum revision effort for seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. (DMM)

The purpose of this study was to assess how well the ASSET, COMPASS, and in-house readiness tests actually do in their placement of students into the algebra developmental courses. Specifically, the author collected and analyzed student data from these placement tools and the core final exams for MTH 03 and MTH 04 to determine how well these…

In response to the large numbers of students who were failing or dropping out of basic algebra and calculus classes, Cottey College, in Missouri, developed a math placement program in 1982 using Basic Algebra (BA) and Calculus Readiness (CR) tests from the Mathematical Association of America's Placement Testing Program. Cut off scores for the…