Results from the Survey of Adult Skills, also known as PIAAC (Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies), were recently made available for 24 participating countries. PIAAC involves several developments in relation to the earlier international "adult skills" surveys (IALS in the 1990s and ALL in the 2000s), notably…

This article proposes that sampling design effects have potentially huge unrecognized impacts on the results reported by large-scale district and state assessments in the United States. When design effects are unrecognized and unaccounted for they lead to underestimating the sampling error in item and test statistics. Underestimating the sampling…

The 2011 NAEP-TIMSS linking study conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) was designed to predict Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) scores for the U.S. states that participated in 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics and science assessment of eighth-grade students.…

This document describes the breadth of the research being conducted in 2008 by the Research and Development Division at Educational Testing Service (ETS). The research described falls into three large categories: (1) Research supported by the ETS research allocation; (2) Research funded by testing programs at ETS; and (3) Research funded by…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress in-school sampling design is a three-stage stratified design. Stratification variables include region, size of community and socioeconomic status. The three levels of sample selection are Primary Sampling Units (PSUs), schools and students. In general, two and sometimes three PSUs are selected from…

The purpose of this paper is threefold. First, the description of a research plan for a large-scale computer adaptive testing program migrating from a network to Internet version is presented. The general areas needed in such a research plan include: (1) comparability studies; (2) psychometric analyses; (3) development projects; (4) validity…

The primary sample for Year 11 of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) was selected in March 1979, and was preceded by an 18-month planning effort. During the planning period, research concentrated in five specific areas: sampling frame construction, stratification criteria, efficiency study review, techniques and computer…

To ensure that educational tests do the least harm and bring the greatest good to the education of elementary and secondary school students, it is important that parents, teachers, educational administrators, and policy makers be actively involved in test construction and use. The purpose of this Statement is to provide a checklist of some…

In March 1989, the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory entered into a contract with the Nevada Department of Education to develop this evaluation design for the Nevada Proficiency Examination (NPE) Program. The NPE program, mandated by state legislation, requires each school district to administer examinations in all public schools to…

This paper discusses the rationale for enhancing the current National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) design by adding a capacity for adaptive testing. Items are tailored to the achievement level of the student in adaptive testing. The report describes a 1993 Ohio field trail of two-stage assessment carried out by the National Opinion…

The Primary Reading Program was initiated in 117 classrooms in 40 North Carolina schools, to improve the reading achievement of the primary school students. The same number of control classrooms were also selected for comparison. Features of the program included increased funding for instructional materials; use of volunteers and teacher aides for…

Commemorating the work of Anne Cleary, the author considers the need for research on assessment in the practice context, provides an example of research in context, and proposes general areas of development for assessment research in the context of practice. Research has shown that effects of testing programs on practice are often not those that…

The conceptual framework for the instructionally sensitive assessment that guided the analyses of data from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) are described. The intellectual rationale for the project effort and the current draft version of the guiding conception of "instructionally sensitive psychometrics" are discussed,…

Efforts have been made to increase the dissemination and use of data generated by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Potential users include those concerned with curriculum and methods evaluation, public policymakers, and researchers. NAEP can provide data for curriculum evaluation, including item analysis data which assist in…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is compared to the two studies of the National Educational Longitudinal Studies (NELS) Program--the National Longitudinal Study of the Class of 1972 (resurveyed in 1973, 1974, 1976, and 1979) and the 1980 High School and Beyond study (partially resurveyed and retested in 1982). The third phase…