Examined the range of mathematics learning opportunities in the U.S., drawing on data gathered for the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Analyses reveal a mismatch between the course title and the textbook used for nearly 40% of eighth graders. Significant relationships found were not significant enough to account for the…

In the volume reviewed, papers from 15 international experts address how government can use evaluation to guide (or control) education while attempting to decentralize administrative structure and pedagogical content. Thoughtful analysis is provided in highly integrated coverage of theory and practice. (SLD)

The evolution of the opportunity-to-learn (OTL) concept from a research concept to a policy instrument is examined. The origins of OTL in studies by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement are described, and the role of OTL research in educational indicators is explored. (SLD)

This article focuses on educational opportunity as an organizing construct of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), in contrast with traditional opportunity-to-learn measures. A new conceptualization of educational opportunity is needed for cross-national studies. (SLD)

Used data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study to examine "shadow education" (structured outside-school activities that mimic formal education) as a macro-phenomenon of modern schooling. Findings show shadow education to be prevalent worldwide, but generally remedial in nature, and usually driven by institutional…

The implications of international assessments in setting world-class performance standards are explored. Possible uses of recent international assessments as benchmarks against which to compare the achievement of U.S. students are illustrated. Characteristics of international assessments that affect their usefulness as benchmarks are discussed.…

Inferences that might be made from international educational assessments are discussed, considering issues of popular definition and sampling, assessment exercises, background variables, and statistical analyses. International assessments do tell something about academic achievement, but other approaches may provide more cost-effective information…

It is argued that policies decentralizing the governance of educational systems, although appealing in the abstract, tend to be fundamentally ambivalent and in conflict with powerful forces favoring centralization. Tensions surrounding the issue of decentralization are discussed, with emphasis on the relationship between decentralization and…