Some form of a short interrupted time series (ITS) is often used to evaluate state and national programs. An ITS design with a single treatment group assumes that the pretest functional form can be validly estimated and extrapolated into the postintervention period where it provides a valid counterfactual. This assumption is problematic. Ambiguous…

The technical complexities and sheer size of international large-scale assessment (LSA) databases often cause hesitation on the part of the applied researcher interested in analyzing them. Further, inappropriate choice or application of statistical methods is a common problem in applied research using these databases. This article serves as a…

At present, although the percentages of students with disabilities (SDs) and/or students who are English language learners (ELL) excluded from a NAEP administration are reported, no statistical adjustment is made for these excluded students in the calculation of NAEP results. However, the exclusion rates for both SD and ELL students vary…

Documenting the design and data analysis procedures behind the 1992 Trial State Assessment in reading, this book also provides insight into the rationale behind the technical decisions made about the program. Chapters in the book are: (1) "Overview: The Design, Implementation, and Analysis of the 1992 Trial State Assessment Program in…

This explanatory booklet describes basic statistical terms used, precautions to be considered in interpreting assessment data, assessment measures used, computer printouts containing local school data, and norm tables. Appendices contain a listing of Michigan school districts classified according to the community type they serve and definitions of…

An evaluation of the first year of "The Electric Company" is provided. Volume 1 is comprised of the following chapters: I. Introduction; II. Preparing for the Evaluation (Research Design and Sampling Procedures; Field Operations; The Treatment--the in-school viewing treatment, the at-home viewing treatment, and the content of The…

This report documents the process undertaken to produce scales in three cognitive domains: knowing, applying, and reasoning. Included are the final scales showing differences among countries, as well as within countries. TIMSS 2003 is the third and most recently completed round of IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, a very…

An instrument used to assess educational environments for computers as new tools for teaching and learning was studied in grades 2, 3, and 4 of the Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS) in May 1990. The instrument contained 46 items indexing: (1) the immediate and expanded spaces for the computer stations; (2) the presence of software and…

This volume describes the technical aspects of TIMSS 2003 and summarizes the main activities involved in the development of the data collection instruments, the data collection itself, and the analysis and reporting of the data. The thirteen chapters contained herein are: (1) Overview of TIMSS 2003 (Michael O. Martin and Ina V. S. Mullis); (2)…