Describes mathematics and science instruction in the Czech Republic and results from the performance assessment of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Czech performance on the written test was excellent, but performance assessment results show the low priority given hands-on tasks and performance assessment in the Czech…

Discusses the fairness of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) internationally and considers the results for Australia in more detail, focusing on samples of 516 and 583 students. For Australian students, there is some evidence that the TIMSS performance assessment is less prone to equity problems than the main assessment.…

The last decade has seen an enormous increase in interest in and use of educational indicators. This paper focuses on K-12 student outcome indicators and measures of how well students have learned what is expected of them--the raison d'etre of schooling. It provides a Canadian perspective on student outcome indicators and has three major purposes:…

This study focused on gender differences in scores on the American College Testing Program (ACT) assessment in mathematics for a large sample of U.S. high school graduates (over 1,700,000) and a sample of 321 Chinese twelfth graders. A smaller gender difference was found for the Chinese sample than for the U.S. sample. However, a similar pattern…

This annual report combines the November, January, April, June, and August provincial results in diploma examination courses in the Alberta (Canada) schools. The graphs, tables, and text describe student performance for the entire school year. The report is designed to assist school personnel in identifying patterns of students' achievement in the…

Biosocial influences on sex differences, found for school achievement test results in grades 3 and 6, have been studied by means of opposite-sex twin pairs and singleton controls, attending the same classes as the twins. As expected the opposite-sex twin pairs tend to be more similar in achievement test results in Swedish and mathematics than…

This guide to the ninth-grade French test for Alberta students describes the testing program, provides examples of the type of test to be administered in June 1990, and includes an answer key. Information about the testing program includes general objectives, an overview of the program type, students exempted from the test, testing for students…

Two groups of grade 12 French immersion students in Ottawa and Carleton, Ontario, one having been in immersion French since at least grade 4 and one having started in grade 6 or 7, were administered three tests of French proficiency in a study of the groups' comparative language achievement. Scores sufficiently high to excuse the students from the…

This report contains a summary of test results and interpretations for each grade and area tested as well as conclusions and specific recommendations. Ten percent of students in grades 3, 6, and 9 were randomly designated for the provincial sample and 10 percent of the high schools were selected for the grade 12 sample. The tests were designed to…

The Minister's Advisory Committee on Student Achievement (MACOSA) of Alberta, Canada studied student achievement in grades 3, 6, 9, and 12. Students were tested in reading, writing, mathematics, science, and social studies (grade 12 only). Tests were based upon cognitive objectives considered to be important to the curriculum, and results were to…

This report reviews the results of the Australian Surveys of Primary School Achievement given every five years from 1955 to 1970. It compares results of the tests and explains why the survey was discontinued in 1975. Subjects were approximately 1,000 fifth-grade and 1,000 seventh-grade students selected as a representative sample of Australian…

Changes in intelligence among Swedish 13-year-olds during a 20-year period was studied. Results show: (1) the average of spatial and reasoning intelligence has risen; (2) verbal intelligence increased during the 1960s, but declined thereafter; and (3) by the 1980s girls surpassed in verbal ability and equalled in spatial ability. (Author/LMO)

This is the fourth in a series of technical reports that have dealt with issues surrounding the possibility of national value-added systems for primary schools in England. The main focus has been on the relative progress made by students between the ends of Key Stage 1 (KS1) and Key Stage 2 (KS2). The analysis has indicated that the strength of…

Explores direct techniques, such as semantic mapping and formal word analysis, as ways of supplementing the incidental learning of French vocabulary through reading by high school students in immersion and extended French classes. Findings indicate that these techniques can play a positive role in the second language classroom. (38 references)…

Explores the sources of beliefs about science-technology-society topics and investigates the degree of ambiguity harbored by four different response modes, such as Likert-type, written paragraph, semistructured interview, and empirically developed multiple choice. Finds that mass media have a greater impact than science classes. (Author/YP)