Solving a constructed-response item usually requires successfully performing a sequence of tasks. Each task could involve different attributes, and those required attributes may be "condensed" in various ways to produce the responses. The sequential generalized deterministic input noisy "and" gate model is a general cognitive…

With the aid of longitudinal country-level data from five IEA TIMSS assessments (1995--2011), the current study addresses the issue of the globalisation of curricula and achievement. To explore the hypothesis of global convergence, we study performance in four subdomains of mathematics. Using regression with fixed effects for countries, we…

This study aimed to examine the mediating effects of motivational beliefs in the relations between parental involvement and science achievement. Three types of motivational beliefs, namely, self-concept, intrinsic value, and utility value were addressed based on the Expectancy-Value Theory model. A representative national sample from Taiwan of…

For years scholars have attended to either generic or content-specific teaching practices attempting to understand instructional quality and its effects on student learning. Drawing on the TIMSS 2007 and 2011 databases, this exploratory study empirically tests the hypothesis that attending to both types of practices can help better explain student…

The aim of this study is to examine preservice science teachers' skills of formulating hypotheses and identifying variables. The research has a phenomenological research design. The data was gathered qualitatively. In this study, preservice science teachers were first given two scenarios (Scenario-1 & Scenario-2) containing two different…

The article argues that science assessment should change from an item-driven to a construct-driven practice and pay more attention to disciplinary scientific reasoning. It investigates assessment scales developed from a novel theoretical rationale, describing scientific reasoning as three fundamental practices (hypothesizing, experimenting, and…

Purpose: To advance a framework of indicators that promotes implementation of math standards under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), we tested a conceptual model of the resources and processes within schools that influence the opportunity to learn mathematics (OTL) in the classroom using a recent administration of the 2011 Trends in…

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is an international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades that has been conducted every four years since 1995, with the most recent assessment in 2011. PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an international assessment of reading…