Each year the National Reference Test (NRT) reports the proportions of students achieving at or above three key GCSE grades in English and mathematics. The NRT is therefore uniquely placed as a Key Stage 4 assessment which compares performance directly at ability level, to contribute to the evidence on the impact of disruption to education due to…

Developments in school education in Australia over the past decade have witnessed the rise of national efforts to reform curriculum, assessment and reporting. Constitutionally the power to decide on curriculum matters still resides with the States. Higher stakes in assessment, brought about by national testing and international comparative…

Educational systems in the United States are generating vast amounts of data on student achievement. This may provide researchers and policy makers with long sought-after insight on the factors explaining student performance. This study uses recent data from Washington 10th graders to examine why some students learned more math than others.…

This dissertation research examined the changes in item RIT calibration that occurred when adding audio to a set of currently calibrated RIT items and then placing these new items as field test items in the modified assessments on the NWEA MAP test platform. The researcher used test results from over 600 students in the Poway School District in…

The authors investigated the results of the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test (ETS-MFT) administered to business majors at a U.S. state university. Longitudinal trends and cross-sectional differences are documented, including significant performance differences among students of different majors. Findings suggest that a cohort affect…

New Jersey school districts establish curriculums to meet the proficiencies found in the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards (NJCCCS). The research focuses on the effectiveness of the Washington Township High School Career and Technology Education Department's curriculum in addressing the NJCCS Financial Literacy benchmarks. The…

The "2009 GED[R] Testing Program Statistical Report" is the 52nd annual report in the program's 68-year history of providing a second opportunity for adults without a high school credential to earn their jurisdiction's GED credential. The report provides candidate demographic and GED Test performance statistics as well as historical…

Over the last two decades, research has suggested that candidates' test performances and scores are collaboratively achieved through interviewing/scoring processes and there could be unfair situations caused by the inter-interviewer variation. To investigate a precise picture of the impact of inter-interviewer variation, this research examines the…

Background: All national curriculum tests in England are pre-tested as part of the development process. Differences in pupil performance between pre-test and live test are consistently found. This difference has been termed the pre-test effect. Understanding the pre-test effect is essential in the test development and selection processes and in…

An overall analysis is made of the impact of Grade 3 Title I reading programs in the State of Michigan. An attempt is made to estimate the effectiveness of particular reading programs for low-scoring, middle-scoring, and high-scoring pupils for the purpose of identifying exemplary programs. In addition, a rank ordering of the various programs…

As part of its 6-year longitudinal study designed to assess the impact of Head Start, Educational Testing Service (ETS) has summarized and compiled tables of data collected on 16 of the 33 instruments administered to children in 1969 in three sites (St. Louis, Missouri; Trenton, New Jersey; and Portland, Oregon). Data from the parent interview and…

Due to the increased demands for accountability with the passage of the No Child Left Behind legislation signed in 2002 by President Bush, schools are required to use reading strategies and programs that are supported by scientific research. In Arizona state statute, ARS 15-704, the law outlines the requirements for Arizona school districts to…

The results of a meeting of the Toronto Board of Education are given. Basically, a special program for students was examined. Two kinds of data were used to assess school achievement: school marks and reading test scores. Students in the special program were matched with students who met the following criteria: (1) came from the same senior…

The purpose of the Maine Assessment of Educational Progress (MAEP) in 1972 was to complete the first phase of a 10-year comprehensive needs assessment program involving students in public and non-public schools of the state. The total program is designed to provide specific information about knowledge, skills, understandings, and attitudes in 10…

When norming tests, it may be preferable to use the matrix sampling technique. The results from the samples may be used to estimate what the distribution of scores would have been if each subject had taken all the items. This paper compares four methods for making these estimates. The sample size made it possible to compare the techniques in a…