In two studies involving 18 secondary-level students with learning disabilities and 32 elementary-level at-risk African-American and Hispanic students, it was found that students exposed to positive-mood induction completed more math problems accurately than control children, and the secondary-level experimental students expressed greater…

Studied effects of students' use of calculators with 2 experimental forms of a university mathematics test taken by 765 and 725 college students, respectively. Calculator effects are not found for overall scores but are seen for some individual items. Analysis at the item level makes the actual impact apparent. (SLD)

High-school and college officials blamed the dip in verbal scores on the Scholastic Aptitude Test on students' reading too little. The average verbal score dropped from 427 to 424 while the average mathematics score remained at 476. A total of 1,025,523 high-school seniors took the test in 1989-90. (MLW)

Strengths and weaknesses of three types of semiquantitative methods used by the federal government in research impact assessment are presented, and examples of their use are reviewed. These include the classic retrospective method, another retrospective approach, and accomplishments books used by selected research-sponsoring organizations. (SLD)

Examined item-level and test-level characteristics for items in a high-stakes school-leaving mathematics examination. Results from 158 students show that the influence of testwiseness is lessened when three-option items are used. Tests of three-option items are at least equivalent to four-option item tests in terms of internal-consistency score…

Designed to improve equity, MMAP (the Middle School Math Through Applications Project) draws traditionally underserved students, such as minorities and girls, into higher mathematics. The plan features an assessment strategy based on what students are learning, definitions of quality work, student accountability, and encouragement of further…

The effect of item format on metacognitive and affective processes of children in a large-scale mathematics assessment program were studied. Results from 1032 eighth graders indicate that open-ended and multiple choice items have differential effects, although these did not vary substantially as a function of gender and ethnicity. (SLD)

Examined whether a mathematics placement system accurately predicted success in university mathematics classes for both genders. The placement system used four variables to predict grades a student would receive if placed in various freshman mathematics classes. Found that the multiple predictors added to the gender bias of the Scholastic…

GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) emerged in the late 1990s as a comprehensive outreach program seeking to enhance awareness of and readiness for college among low-income middle school students. After controlling for students' preprogram test scores and school characteristics, findings indicate that…

The confounding of chronological and educational age and of schooling and socioeconomic status are persistent problems in the study of the cognitive consequences of schooling. The educational system among the Kharwar in India provides a natural experiment to overcome these problems, since it shows neither source of confounding. The sample…

Because a significant portion of U.S. students lacks critical mathematic skills, schools across the country are investing heavily in computerized curriculums as a way to enhance education output, even though there is surprisingly little evidence that they actually improve student achievement. In this paper we present results from a randomized…

At the request of the Hawaii Department of Education, Achieve conducted a study of Hawaii's 2005 grade 10 State Assessment in reading and mathematics. The study compared the content, rigor and passing (meets proficiency) scores on Hawaii's assessment with those of the six states that participated in Achieve's earlier study, "Do Graduation…

This article details a 5-year evolution of a middle school mathematics faculty serving predominantly economically at-risk students. Faculty members worked to improve students' mathematics test scores, used a scripted curriculum, and integrated National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards-based activities. Schools nationwide are…

In an effort to determine the correlation between assessment placement test scores and grade point average (GPA), a study was conducted at Terra State Community College (TSCC), in Ohio. A sample population was constructed of 93 potential students who took the American College Testing Service Assessment of Student Skills for Entry Transfer (ASSET)…

A study examined middle grades students' learning of concepts related to the use and interpretation of graphs. Subjects of the study were 76 sixth-grade students in 3 different mathematics classes in a central North Carolina middle school. The first two parts of the written instrument were administered as both a pretest and a posttest, using line…