Group differences in test scores are a key metric in education policy. Response time offers novel opportunities for understanding these differences, especially in low-stakes settings. Here, we describe how observed group differences in test accuracy can be attributed to group differences in latent response speed or group differences in latent…

International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) have had significant impact on education policy across the globe. But has interest in ILSAs now started to wane? This paper presents new evidence on this issue, exploring how the amount of attention three major ILSAs receive compares across countries, between studies and over time. Using information on…

The participation of countries in various international large-scale assessments (ILSA) is motivated by different factors. In recent years however, there has been a growing popularity and importance placed on the results of ILSA. Recognising the significance of ILSA as a valuable source of feedback for enhancing the basic education system, the…

Communication of International Large-Scale Assessment (ILSA) results is dominated by reporting average country achievement scores that conceal individual differences between pupils, schools, and items. Educational research primarily focuses on examining differences between pupils and schools, while differences between items are overlooked. Using a…

Standardised International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSAs) have gained prominence in global and national educational discussions. ILSAs claim to offer valuable insights for improving education systems, but their impact on educational policy varies and has become a contested arena. This article analyses how these assessments fed educational…

Beginning in September 2020, students will have the option to retake one or more sections of the ACT® test (referred to as section retesting, modular testing, or single-subject retesting), instead of needing to take the entire battery again. Section retests will only be available to students who have previously completed the full battery and only…

Teacher turnover has adverse consequences for student achievement and imposes large financial costs for schools. Some have argued that high-stakes testing may lower teachers' satisfaction with their jobs and could be a major contributor to teacher attrition. This study uses data on individual students and teachers from Georgia's statewide…

The discourse of quality has permeated everyday discussions about education, yet the concept as such remains complex. Moreover, during the constant struggle to improve educational quality, governments have increasingly devoted attention to the results of international large-scale assessments. As those results are used to inform policy decisions to…

Based on concerns about the item response theory (IRT) linking approach used in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) until 2012 as well as the desire to include new, more complex, interactive items with the introduction of computer-based assessments, alternative IRT linking methods were implemented in the 2015 PISA round. The…

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) assesses the knowledge and skills in mathematics, reading and science of 15-year-old pupils in countries around the world. PISA is run by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and assessment is typically undertaken every 3 years, allowing us to chart how…

Research to date on the effects of between-school tracking on inequalities in achievement and on performance has been inconclusive. A possible explanation is that different studies used different data, focused on different domains, and employed different measures of inequality. To address this issue, we used all accumulated data collected in the…

During the academic year in the state of Georgia, EL students in public schools take the Georgia Milestones End-of-Grade and the ACCESS 2.0 assessments, which are in line with the state-mandated subject area standards in mathematics, science, language arts, and social studies, as well as English language proficiency standards (Georgia Department…

The COVID-19 pandemic caused widespread disruptions to the educational system in Nebraska and across the world. At the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, schools in Nebraska were forced to replace on-site instruction with virtual instruction. During the 2020-2021 academic year, many students learned online or under hybrid learning formats.…

The use of standardized assessments to monitor the success and productivity of public school systems in the United States is arguably a necessary component of state accountability systems. This research study is not intended to challenge the compulsion of accountability via testing, but the results of this study do raise questions regarding the…

Recognizing the limitations of the existing frameworks and models applied to estimate the learning loss caused by COVID-19 across the world by different studies, and the urgent need for estimating such loss at the different education levels, this paper, employs the Education Value Chain Analysis ( EVCA) approach as a new paradigm, attempts to…