This paper reviews overall student performance as well as the performance of student subgroups on the assessment system developed in response to the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 (MERA), the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS). Comparing students in Massachusetts to students in the rest of the United States or against…

In programming, one problem can usually be solved using different logics and constructs but still producing the same output. Sometimes students get marked down inappropriately if their solutions do not follow the answer scheme. In addition, lab exercises and programming assignments are not necessary graded by the instructors but most of the time…

The National Student Outcomes Survey (SOS) collects information about students who completed their vocational education and training (VET) in the previous calendar year. The gathered information on the surveyed VET students includes their reasons for training, employment outcomes, satisfaction with training, and further study outcomes. The survey…

The "PISA 2012 Technical Report" describes the methodology underlying the PISA 2012 survey, which tested 15-year-olds' competencies in mathematics, reading and science and, in some countries, problem solving and financial literacy. It examines the design and implementation of the project at a level of detail that allows researchers to…

This paper presents the development and initial validation of new measures of critical thinking and noncognitive attributes that were designed to supplement existing standardized tests used in the admissions system for higher education in Chile. The importance of various facets of this process, including the establishment of technical rigor and…

This user guide has been developed for users of the Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth (LSAY). It consolidates existing technical documentation and other information into one document. The guide aims to address all aspects of the LSAY data including: how to access the data, data restrictions, variable naming conventions, the structure of the…

This manual was written to provide technical information regarding the 2002 Series GED (General Educational Development) Tests. Throughout this manual, documentation is provided regarding the development of the GED Tests, data collection activities, as well as reliability and validity evidence. The purpose of this manual is to provide evidence…

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD's) Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) surveys, which take place every three years, have been designed to collect information about 15-year-old students in participating countries. PISA examines how well students are prepared to meet the challenges of the future,…

One of the factors that affects the reliability of perceptual voice evaluation is the rating scale. Equal-appearing interval (EAI) and visual analogue (VA) scales are the two most common scales used and have attracted much attention in recent studies of perceptual voice evaluation. Available findings are contradictory, with one study finding the…

Background: The Children's Communication Checklist (CCC 1998) was revised in 2003 (CCC-2) to provide a general screen for communication disorder and to identify pragmatic/social interaction deficits. Two validation studies were conducted with different populations of children with language and communication impairments. Methods & Procedures: In…

This paper reports evidence on the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Chinese Family Assessment Instrument (C-FAI), an instrument developed to assess family functioning in Chinese populations. A convenience sample of 1,462 adolescents from junior secondary schools completed the C-FAI and measures of parent-adolescent conflict.…

The effects of two different approaches to training community nurses in patient self-care were evaluated. In an intensive workshop, 36 nurses were trained, and 19 of them received further personal guidance 11 times during a 6-month period. Their performance was assessed before the educational intervention, after the workshop, and after the…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the most ambitious study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement to date. TIMSS developed and administered tests and questionnaires in three student populations to study achievement in participating countries and the factors associated…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) developed and administered tests and questionnaires in three student populations to document the quality of mathematics and science education in 45 participating countries. Study design, instrument development, and research procedures were achieved through a complex collaborative…

The stability of Rasch test item difficulty parameters was investigated under varying conditions. Data were taken from a mathematics achievement test administered to over 2,000 Australian students. The experiments included: (1) relative stability of the Rasch, traditional, and z-item difficulty parameters using different sample sizes and designs;…