In Italy, from the 2003 reports to the present, the National Institute for the Educational Evaluation of Instruction and Training (INVALSI) has conducted research on Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) results in order to understand Italian students' low achievement in mathematics. In the present paper, data from a representative…

Why has large-scale standardised testing attracted such a bad press? Why has pedagogic benefit to be derived from test results been downplayed? The paper investigates this question by first surveying the pros and cons of testing in the literature, and goes on to examine educators' responses to standardised, large-scale tests in a sample of low…

This paper reports an examination on gender differences in lunar phases understanding of 123 students (70 females and 53 males). Middle-level students interacted with the Moon through observations, sketching, journalling, two-dimensional and three-dimensional modelling, and classroom discussions. These lunar lessons were adapted from the Realistic…

Behavioral Research and Teaching (BRT) has developed a series of mathematics tests to assist local school districts in identifying students in grades 1-8 who may be at risk of not meeting year-end mathematics achievement goals. The tests were developed using the state mathematics standards for the relevant grade levels and administered to students…

A battery of spatial, linguistic, and mathematical tests was administered to tenth- and twelfth-grade students to examine the relation between sex differences on particular spatial tests and sex differences on particular mathematical problems. The sex difference magnitude was not diminished by taking spatial and linguistic scores into account.…

Beginning in 1999, all of the Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) had to be aligned with the Pennsylvania Academic Standards. This handbook describes the PSSA mathematics assessment. Following an overview of the PSSA, the second chapter focuses on the development and scoring of the mathematics assessment. Administering the assessment…

Discussed are the results of the 1988 Indiana State High School Mathematics Contest, which attracted 2,523 students. Four multiple-choice tests (each with a 90-minute time limit) based on proficiencies listed in the "Mathematics Proficiency Guide" and published by the Indiana Department of Education were used. The tests were: (1) Algebra…

The major goal of this study is to apply the essential unidimensionality statistic of W. Stout and the corresponding computer program (DIMTEST) to a hierarchical level mathematics achievement data set and to determine the extent to which the undimensional assumption can be accurately applied to mathematics achievement data. The study also…

The Texas Educational Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) test was administered to pupils in grade 1 for the first time, at state level, in April 1986. Students with certain disabilities and those with limited English proficiency were exempted from this testing cycle. This 84-item test measured 21 objectives: 8 for mathematics, 9 for reading, and…

The primary objective of this study was to investigate overall patterns of gender differences and similarities of test performance in mathematics. To achieve that objective, observed test scores on the Delaware standards-based assessment were analyzed to examine: (1) gender differences and similarities across grades 3, 5, 8 and 10 over 2 years;…

Techniques such as the norm-referenced and average score techniques, commonly used in the identification of educationally disadvantaged students, are critiqued. This study applied latent trait theory, specifically the Rasch Model, along with teacher judgments relative to the mastery of instructional/test decisions, to derive a standard setting…

This publication on the New South Wales' Basic Skills Testing Program (BSTP) describes the development of the program's tests, the analysis of students' results, and the communication of results to parents, teachers, and schools. In BSTP tests, basic skills are defined not as low-level, rudimentary survival skills, but as major areas of learning…

Studies of the mathematics assessments of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) are summarized. One study found that omit rates for NAEP test items were higher for African Americans and Hispanics than for whites. The other found that descriptions and examples for the 1992 mathematics achievement levels were misleading. (SLD)

Different forms of accommodation have been suggested in the assessment of English language learners (ELL). This study examined the effectiveness of a few accommodation strategies on the performance of ELL students in mathematics. A group of 946 eighth graders participated in this study. Using mathematics test items from the National Assessment of…

This study was conducted to determine whether the symbolic form of achievement test items influences student performance and whether teachers' use of different symbolic forms during instruction influences estimates of student achievement. The analyses conducted to examine these issues used student achievement test data and teacher responses to…