The consensus among education researchers is that value-added models are most appropriate for assessing the relative effectiveness of schools, teachers, or programmes for student learning. The preferred value-added model adjusts for prior achievement, but there is a variety of other specifications that may or may not include prior achievement.…

Reports of international large-scale assessments tend to evaluate and compare education system performance based on absolute scores. And policymakers refer to high-performing and economically prosperous education systems to enhance their own systemic features. But socioeconomic differences between systems compromise the plausibility of those…

If classification in a limited number of categories is the purpose of testing, computerized adaptive tests (CATs) with algorithms based on sequential statistical testing perform better than estimation-based CATs (e.g., Eggen & Straetmans, 2000). In these computerized classification tests (CCTs), the Sequential Probability Ratio Test (SPRT) (Wald,…

When comparing data derived from tests or questionnaires in cross-national studies, researchers commonly assume measurement invariance in their underlying scaling models. However, different cultural contexts, languages, and curricula can have powerful effects on how students respond in different countries. This article illustrates how the…

Several current international comparative large-scale assessments of educational achievement (ICLSA) make use of "Rasch models", to address functions essential for valid cross-cultural comparisons. From a historical perspective, ICLSA and Georg Rasch's "models for measurement" emerged at about the same time, half a century ago. However, the…

The cultural capital in families, more specifically, the educational level of parents, has during the last decades been shown to be the most important dimension of socioeconomic influence on school performance in many countries. Less is known about the factors that actually mediate this influence. The aim, therefore, is to investigate the relative…

This study examined changes in the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on reading achievement at individual and school levels between 1991 and 2001. Data from 9 countries that participated in both the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Reading Literacy Study 1991 and the Trend Study in the Progress in…

One widely accepted explanation of bullying, known as the aggressive-motive thesis, assumes that bullying is a form of aggressive behaviour triggered by external stress. However, recent evidences have suggested a different explanation, known as the frustration-aggression thesis, which asserts that bullying is a psychological defense triggered by…

This paper is concerned with the importance of testing and developing integrated multilevel educational effectiveness models through comparative studies in educational effectiveness. It is argued that secondary analyses of international comparative studies could help researchers test and develop integrated multilevel educational effectiveness…

Current educational policies show a growing tendency towards giving schools more autonomy and internal quality control. Accurate and comparable data on school performances are thus needed. In Flanders, PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) and TIMSS-R (Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat) have provided…