It is argued that a clear vision of the role of qualitative methods in educational research is needed. A series of six guidelines to chart that vision is presented, and the notion of research genres within a postmodern framework is used to reconcile the differences between qualitative and quantitative research. (SLD)

Suggests important roles for the mathematics test: certifying procedural skills, informing instruction, and preparation for sense-making. Offers cautions about the limitations of the teacher-produced test. (MKR)

Capacity limitations in absolute judgment tasks are discussed in relation to information theory. Information theory can provide a quantitative way of resolving questions about limitations on the amount of information we can receive and the process of recoding. (SLD)

Described is a high school mathematics testing program reported to help improve students' mathematics performance. Features and results of the program are discussed. (CW)

Examines three elementary teachers' conceptions about mathematics assessment in the context of their practice. Teachers' beliefs are shaped by externally defined functions and purposes of assessment; what teachers perceive as the official school curriculum and their position with regard to subject matter; and how they understand learning and…

Presents a procedure for standard setting that involves the cluster analysis of test takers to discover examinee groups that are useful for envisioning marginally competent performance or defining borderline or contrasting groups. Illustrates use of the procedure with a statewide mathematics test, and concludes that cluster analysis is useful in…

Shares experiences with coaching the Sixth-grade Math Olympiad Team in a middle school. Discusses the Olympiad and concludes that this activity is one way of providing mathematical experiences that have an enriching effect on young women and encourage their personal and mathematical growth. (ASK)

Examined predictors of attitudes and beliefs related to school and family and predictors of mathematics outcomes focusing on attitudes using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Tested a model derived from Cyprus TIMSS data on U.S. and Japanese data. Findings highlight the complexity of factors accounting for…

Presents conflicting legislation on calculator usage in California and Virginia, and summarizes research favoring students' use of calculators while taking tests and solving classroom exercises or real-world problems. Another research study shows that stayers in school choice programs are likely to have chosen the school, have friends in the…

One hundred middle school students completed four measures of mathematics skills (involving basic facts and estimation) twice in one week. Criterion measures included school grades, standardized test scores, and teacher ratings. Correlation and regression analyses indicated the measures are reliable and possess acceptable levels of criterion…

Examined the organizational health of a typical set of high schools in Ohio, focusing on the influence of organizational health on mathematics proficiency as defined by the percentage of twelfth-grade students who passed the Ohio Proficiency Examination in Mathematics. (EV)

Compares and analyzes the size of the "SAT elite," seniors who score 650 or higher on the verbal or mathematics section of the Scholastic Assessment Test, over 10-year period. Disputes published reports that "SAT elite" has shrunk. (PKP)

The purpose of this study was to address the effectiveness of a Spanish-English dual-language test booklet in 8th-grade mathematics. This study used analyses of test data (n = 402) as well as information gathered through focus groups (n = 68) and cognitive interviews (n = 18) to assess the accuracy and utility of the dual-language format as a…

Efforts are made to help students do better on mathematics problems without taking time from other class activities. An illustration of Mrs. Segura, a third-grade teacher at Sunflower Elementary School, is presented whose seventy percent students did not pass the fourth chapter test in mathematics.

Most research on differential item functioning (DIF) focuses on methods for detection rather than on understanding why DIF might occur. This study was designed to investigate whether two alternative approaches to parsing items based on structural characteristics related to particular cognitive strategies could be used to help explain gender DIF.…