This study aims to apply the differential item functioning (DIF) technique with the deterministic inputs, noisy "and" gate (DINA) model to validate the mathematics construct and diagnostic attribute profiles across American and Singaporean students. Even with the same ability level, every single item is expected to show uniform DIF…

This study focused on the relationships between teacher characteristics and students' mathematics achievement in EU countries, including Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Slovenia, Sweden, and Turkey, which are the only EU countries participated in TIMSS 2015 at the eighth-grade level. The data consisted of the sample of 31,969 eighth-grade…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) student questionnaire, despite being designed for low cognitive demand, may induce test burden due to its 306-item length, resulting in increased item nonresponse toward the questionnaire's end. Using the PISA 2018 response data from 80 countries and a cross-classified mixed effects model,…

The use of multistage adaptive testing (MST) has gradually increased in large-scale testing programs as MST achieves a balanced compromise between linear test design and item-level adaptive testing. MST works on the premise that each examinee gives their best effort when attempting the items, and their responses truly reflect what they know or can…

Mathematical literacy is becoming increasingly important and needs to be developed. However, various factors can affect students with different mathematical literacy patterns. This study aims to investigate the effects of students' backgrounds, attitudes toward mathematics, and information and communication technology (ICT) familiarity on the…

Reading engagement is a strong predictor of students' reading outcomes, but its consistent positive effects across diverse student groups remain unclear. Research on the reading engagement of multilingual adolescents is notably limited. We investigated the interactions of affective and cognitive dimensions of reading engagement in relation to…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the population invariance of equating functions across country subgroups in TIMSS 2015 mathematics tests in relation to the raw-score distribution, DIF, and DTF. We used equipercentile and IRT observed-score equating methods. The results of the study indicate that there is a relationship between the…

This study seeks to explore the effect of tools of school governance advanced by the global reform agenda (1) on student performance and (2) on reducing the effect of sociodemographic variables on this performance. To do so, we compare two Nordic welfare states with an egalitarian tradition: Sweden and Finland. The Swedish school system has…

The research aims to determine the factors affecting PISA 2018 reading skills using the Random Forest and MARS methods and to compare their prediction abilities. This study used the information from 5713 students, 2838 (49.7%) male and 2875 (50.3%) female, in the PISA 2018 Turkey. The analysis shows the MARS method performed better than the Random…

Errors that occasionally manifest in examination papers and other educational assessment instruments can threaten reliability and validity. For example, a multiple choice question could have two correct response options, or a geography question containing an inaccurate map could be unanswerable. In this paper we explore this oft-neglected element…

Although scholars have proposed school climate as a key mediator through which school-based management (SBM) can improve educational outcomes, empirical evidence on the relationship between SBM and school climate improvement is sparse. In this article, we use three waves of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data across 57…

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the distribution of students with varying levels of reading competence according to their selection of metacognitive methods from the 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey. The research group consisted of 6,890 pupils from the Republic of Turkey who participated in the PISA 2018…

In the 21st century, international interaction in social, economic, cultural, and educational fields has increased. Consequently, international standards have become essential in national education policies, reforms, and practices. As an international assessment, PISA has started to function as a prominent tool in this regard. However, the impact…

Students' out-of-school learning environment is one of the most prominent factors affecting their school success, which is mostly a source of inequity unfavoring disadvantaged groups. In some countries including Turkey, bilingual students are among disadvantaged groups because most of them are from immigrant families with low socioeconomic status.…

This study examines the factors affecting the mathematics achievement of 8th-grade students in Türkiye using data from the TIMSS in 2011, 2015, and 2019. The data were analysed with multilevel (two-level) modelling. The first level was the student, and the second level was the school. At the student level, such affective characteristics as…