The aim of this study was to investigate students' understanding of the Gulf Stream as a geographical phenomenon and in relation to geospatial conceptualizations focusing on the geographical concepts of location, distribution and interaction. Data consists of 134 responses from 12-13-year-old students who completed an assignment in the Swedish…

Since its introduction in 2017, NFER has been contracted by Ofqual to develop, deliver and analyse the results of the National Reference Test (NRT) in English and Maths. The NRT is administered annually and shows if student performance in English and maths at GCSE level has changed from year-to-year. This year, more than 13,000 Year 11 students…

Large-scale assessments play a key role in education: educators and stakeholders need to know what students know and can do, so that they can be prepared for education policies and interventions in teaching and learning. However, a score from the assessment may not be enough--educators need to know why students got low scores, how students engaged…

For the first time in 32 years, the national average scale score in mathematics dropped by seven points across the country in grades four and eight, according to the latest results of the National Assessment on Educational Progress (NAEP). The 2022 results in mathematics were staggering, in which "math performance fell for the first time in…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is an integral measure of academic progress over time. It is the largest nationally representative and continuing assessment of what our nation's students know and can do in various subjects such as civics, mathematics, reading, science, technology and engineering literacy, U.S. history, and…

The proposed paper utilizes teacher and student data from the 2014 U.S. National Assessment for Education Progress 8th grade Civics test (NAEP-Civics8) to explore the relationship between teacher pedagogical practices and other factors (i.e., teacher credentials, teacher professional characteristics, individual traits, and teachers' education…

This investigation scrutinizes the relative effectiveness of individual versus bundled accommodations -- specifically, breaks and extended time (ET) -- on the performance, behaviors, and attitudes of eighth-grade students with disabilities during the 2017 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) digital math test. Through a detailed…

This primer summarizes the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA), the Educational Technical Assistance Act (ETAA), and the National Assessment of Educational Progress Authorization Act (NAEPAA). The report is organized in a manner that aligns with P.L. 107-279, the law that enacted the three acts. The ESRA authorizes much of the federal…

The purpose of this study was to determine K-8 preservice teacher (PST) candidates' statistical thinking when selecting the best center representation for the given data. Forty-four PSTs enrolled in a Statistics and Probability for K-8 Teachers course in a university located in the southeastern region of the United States were asked to complete a…

Although the Texas economy is racing ahead at full speed, state K-12 education has stalled. One major obstacle has been the claim by opponents of school choice in Texas that giving families more education options via education choice policies would harm or even destroy rural district schools. These concerns, even if understandable, are not based…

In a world characterized by a formal global consensus on norms of "Education for All," countries face growing social pressures to rationalize their educational institutions around a global and standardized set of best practices. In this context, I argue that national assessments are part of a more general set of organizational structures…

This article explores the struggles over the development of new national tests for the Danish public school system before, during, and after the lockdown of society due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The article throws light on the stakeholder positions, arguments, and discourses involved in assessment policy formation with particular attention on the…

As highlighted in the literature, one of the main difficulties in mathematics is the management of different semiotic representations. This difficulty occurs in verticals throughout schooling and is often an obstacle to the proper learning process of mathematics. The present study aims to investigate the different facets of these difficulties with…

This study examines the effects of self-efficacy, students' effort and access to educational resources, and teachers' development on the achievement of elementary school students in mathematics. Using the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) restricted data set, this study determined if and how these three aspects individually…

Extended time is frequently recommended for students with disabilities (SWD) with an intent to remove barriers to accurate measurement of their underlying knowledge and skills. However, empirical findings have varied in terms of whether extended time conditions are an appropriate method for doing so, raising questions of whether frequent…