Discusses the Third International Mathematics and Science Study including schools' involvement, international dimensions, tests' content, and value of TIMSS. (MKR)

This article describes the City of London Polytechnic Mathematics Competition for Inner London Secondary Schools. The question design policy is specified, and examples of tie-breaker questions are given. (Author/JDD)

Discusses some results of the CSMS test which provides information for teachers on students' levels of understanding in secondary school mathematics, including comparison with a Piagetian task, identification of misconceptions, and description of naive strategies. (MKR)

Review of trends in scores on the Scholastic Assessment Tests (SATs) suggests that increasing differences between mean scores on the verbal and mathematical sections may be at least partially due to statistical problems in the 1950s, changes in school curricula, and changes in the composition of the student test-taking population. (DB)

Validated data from a developmental mathematics assessment using classical and three-faceted Rasch measurement methods. Analysis of field test data for 289 elementary school students suggested that a unidimensional construct was being measured, as defined by Rasch criteria. Discusses limitations in confirming content-related validity of the…

An instrument developed for measuring mathematical thinking was administered to high school students in Nebraska to determine the effects of class level and gender on mathematical thinking. Results showed significant differences in mathematical thinking due to class level in favor of higher class levels with the exception of grades 11 and 12. (PVD)

Discusses the effects of high-stakes tests in Michigan and how these tests affect the teaching of mathematics in classrooms. (ASK)

Reliability is a problem inherent in all educational assessments, but the amount of attention this particular problem should be given is related to the function and use of the assessment. In this article, classification accuracy is put forward as a conceptualization of reliability that is meaningful for a large number of educational assessments.…

Monitoring educational changes over many years is problematic when there are differences in curricula, the nature of the variables being measured, and the selection of participants. Rasch measurement techniques provide a procedure that enables each of these issues to be examined. Using archived and specially collected data, tests of numeracy…

In a mathematical examination on paper, partial credit is normally awarded for an answer that is not correct, but, nevertheless, contains some of the correct working. Assessment on computer normally marks an incorrect answer wrong and awards no marks. This can lead to discrepancies between marks awarded for the same examination given in the two…

This report describes the derivation and evaluation of a method for comparing the performance standards for public school students set by different states. It is based on an approach proposed by McLaughlin and associates, which constituted an innovative attempt to resolve the confusion and concern that occurs when very different proportions of…

This report uses longitudinal data to examine the scores of public-school language-minority students on a mathematics assessment in 1st grade, and gains in their scores between 1st and 5th grades. Scores are reported by student race/ethnicity, poverty status, and maternal education. Data are drawn from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study,…

Students have continued to perform poorly in KCSE examinations in certain mathematics topics taught in secondary schools in Kenya. One such topic is commercial arithmetic. Successful teaching of mathematics depends partly on correct use of teaching methods in classroom settings. This study sought to examine how the use of advance organisers during…

This paper assesses the magnitude of the non-indigenous/indigenous test-score gap for third-year and fourth-year primary school pupils in Peru, in relation to the main family, school and peer inputs contributing to the test-score gap using the estimation method of feasible generalized least squares. The article then decomposes the gap into its…

This study examined the relationship between teacher assessments and grade eight New Jersey NCLB mathematics testing. It also examined how curricular changes affected student achievement for one New Jersey junior high school on the NCLB mathematics test. The research considered teacher assessments and the New Jersey grade eight NCLB mathematics…