In California, Algebra I is the 8th grade math content standard. The United States Department of Education found the annual 8th grade General Math California Standards Test to be out of compliance with the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 since it assesses 6th and 7th grade math standards and not Algebra I math content. In response to the…

The High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 (HSLS:09) is the fifth in a series of National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) secondary longitudinal studies. The core research questions for HSLS:09 explore secondary to postsecondary transition plans and the evolution of those plans; the paths into and out of science, technology, engineering,…

A problem frequently confronted in item response theory (IRT) applications is that the item parameters calibrated using more than two independent samples of subjects must be expressed on the same scale. The existing methods were developed for a pairwise transformation, that is, from one scale to the other. The purpose of this study is to introduce…

A framework is offered for fostering systematic, creative synthesis across various case studies. The challenge for those seeking to synthesize from case studies is to develop respect for the individual case context while permitting some blurring of unique features to occur in the synthesis. Case studies are meant to render an account of specific…

Two methods to establish a common scale across grades within a content area using a common item design (separate and concurrent) have previously been studied under simulated conditions. Separate estimation is accomplished through separate calibration and grade-by-grade chained linking. Concurrent calibration established the vertical scale in a…

Describes features of excellent mathematics department in California high school serving multiethnic, low-income students. Explores reasons why these low-income students outperform students from wealthier school districts on independently designed mathematics tests, but have significantly lower SAT-9 mathematics scores than students in other high…

Examines the effects of testing accommodations on the mathematics test scores of a sample of fourth-grade students, which included students with disabilities (SWD) and students without disabilities (SWOD). Primary analyses indicated that SWDs experienced a larger effect in the accommodated condition than did SWODs. The SWDs profited more than…

Discusses teachers' perspectives of alternative assessment, including loss of predictability in the classroom, content coverage, familiarizing students with the teacher's expectations, dealing with increased demands on time, and communicating with parents. (AIM)

An equating study was carried out in autumn 2006 by the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) on behalf of Renaissance Learning, to provide validation evidence for the use of the Renaissance Star Reading and Star Mathematics tests in English schools. The study investigated the correlation between the Star tests and established tests.…

In an Angoff standard setting procedure, judges estimate the probability that a hypothetical randomly selected minimally competent candidate will answer correctly each item in the test. In many cases, these item performance estimates are made twice, with information shared with the panelists between estimates. Especially for long tests, this…

Many states allow those high school students who have failed a high stakes tests to retake the exam. At stake can be the student's eligibility to receive a diploma and the accountability status of the school. This study examined how high schools supported students who retook the mathematics portion of a high stakes exam. Ten schools that had…

Given the policy imperative of using multiple measures for state education accountability under the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), this study examines similarities and discrepancies between the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the states' own math assessment results in Kentucky and Maine, with a focus on 3 major academic…

Researchers of mathematics learning disability (MLD) commonly use cutoff scores to determine which participants have MLD. Some researchers apply more restrictive cutoffs than others (e.g., performance below the 10th vs. below the 35th percentile). Different cutoffs may lead to groups of children that differ in their profile of math and related…

Number sense development was tracked from the beginning of kindergarten through the middle of first grade, over six time points. Children (n=277) were then assessed on general math achievement at the end of first grade. Number sense performance in kindergarten, as well as number sense growth, accounted for 66 percent of the variance in first-grade…

A majority of studies on learning disabilities have focused on elementary grades. Although problems with learning disabilities are life-affecting only a few studies focus on deficits in adults. In this study adults with isolated mathematical disabilities (n = 101) and adults with combined mathematical and reading disabilities (n = 130) solved…