Large-scale assessments such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) have field trials where new survey features are tested for utility in the main survey. Because of resource constraints, there is a trade-off between how much of the sample can be used to test new survey features and how much can be used for the initial item…

This report summarizes the practices and findings of the pilot year of Student-Centered Assessment Network (SCAN), which used real-time testing to determine effective and engaging classroom assessment practices for students. Data gathered through quality assessment can be used by teachers to support their students' needs, as well as by students…

During the Cultivating Diverse Talent in STEM (CDTIS) Project, a team of scientists, teachers, and a researcher developed a performance-based assessment of high school students' creative problem-solving skills and ability to apply physical science principles in practical ways. It was one of six measures to identify exceptionally talented students.…

The PISA for Development (PISA-D) project aims to make PISA more accessible and relevant to middle- and low-income countries by introducing new features to the assessment, including tests that are specially designed to measure lower levels of performance, contextual questionnaires that better reflect the situations of 15-year-olds across a diverse…

Curricular coherence is an indication of the alignment of content ideas, the depth at which they are studied, and the sequencing of ideas within and across grade levels and has been identified as an important predictor of student performance. This study examined the contribution of inter-unit coherence on energy to the learning of this concept…

The middle school years are a crucial time for cultivating students' interest in and preparedness for future STEM careers. However, not all middle school children are provided opportunities to engage, learn and achieve in STEM subject areas. Engineering, in particular, is neglected in these grades because it usually is not part of science or…

This study aims to produce inquiry-oriented general physics learning material to improve student learning outcome. Development steps of learning materials were adapted from the design model of Dick and Carey. Stages of development consists of three phases: planning, development, and formative evaluation and revision. Implementation of formative…

Purpose: This study examined agreement between all 3 standards (as well as relative diagnostic associations with metabolic syndrome) using a representative sample of youth from the Hungarian National Youth Fitness Study. Method: Body mass index (BMI) was assessed in a field sample of 2,352 adolescents (ages 10-18.5 years) and metabolic syndrome…

With the development and implementation of new curriculum standards, the field tests of education reform in senior high schools began in 2004 in four pilot provinces in mainland China. After five years of the reform, it is necessary to know how and to what extent the curriculum standard guides test classroom instruction. The present study was…

This report describes the methodologies and results of the third follow-up Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002/12) field test which was conducted in the summer of 2011. The field test report is divided into six chapters: (1) Introduction; (2) Field Test Survey Design and Preparation; (3) Data Collection Procedures and Results; (4) Field…

Since the 1999-2000 school year, TAP: The System for Teacher and Student Advancement (TAP) has been implemented in hundreds of schools across the nation and demonstrated an ability to raise student achievement, improve the quality of instruction and increase the ability of high-need schools to recruit, retain and support effective teachers. The…

Much of modern biology has become increasingly chemical in character. Not surprisingly, students often have trouble understanding key ideas in biology because they lack foundational chemistry ideas. AAAS and BSCS are collaborating to develop and study a curriculum unit that supports students' ability to explain a variety of biological processes…

The Malaysian Ministry of Education strongly emphasises the development of science process skills, as evidenced by the stipulation of seven basic and five integrated science process skills into the science curriculum across grade levels and scientific disciplines. As such, there is a pressing need to assess the acquisition of these science process…

This research aims to produce mathematics problems based on PISA level with valid and practical content of change and relationships and has potential effect for Junior High School students. A development research method developed by Akker, Gravemeijer, McKenney and Nieveen is used this research. This development research consists of three stages;…

AAAS and BSCS are collaborating to develop and study a curriculum unit that supports students' ability to explain a variety of biological processes such as growth in chemical terms. The unit provides conceptual coherence between chemical processes in nonliving and living systems through the core idea of atom rearrangement and conservation during…