A dilemma arises in the attempt to establish procedures for valid assessment of academic learning. Measures of learning with high pedagogical validity often have poor psychometric properties. Conversely, tests that are well-constructed by psychometric standards may succeed in sorting and ordering students or schools, but have little pedagogical…

This publication reports the results of a research study on the feasibility and validity of various accommodations in the context of mathematics assessment. The study compared limited English proficiency (LEP) and non-LEP students' scores on 20 science items under three different conditions: standard National Assessment for Educational Progress…

State Board of Education policy in North Carolina requires students who entered the ninth grade in 1994-95 and later to meet a higher competency standard in reading and mathematics. These students must receive an Achievement Level III or above on the eighth-grade reading and mathematics tests in order to receive a North Carolina high school…

The purpose of this document is to report the performance of students in the classes of 1998 to 1005 on the more rigorous competency standard in North Carolina as of the 2000-2001 school year. This report contains aggregate and disaggregated state-level results from administrations of the North Carolina competency tests of reading and mathematics…

There is a strong and consistent relationship between PSAT/NMSQT scores and AP Examination grades for nearly all courses--higher scores on the PSAT/NMSQT indicate a higher probability of success on AP Examinations. PSAT/NMSQT verbal or mathematics scores are often more highly related to AP Examination grades than overall high school GPA, number of…

Reports that those who were taught proportions exhibit more of a tendency to transfer than those who were not. Investigates the relationship of previous learning and problem-solving abilities to the learning of proportionality in facilitating transfer. Shows the magnitude of effects of task assignment on transfer. (YP)

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)

Two data collection designs, counterbalanced and spiraling (Angoff's Design I and Angoff's Design II) were compared using item response theory and equipercentile equating methodology in the vertical equating of 2 mathematics achievement tests using 1,000 eleventh graders and 1,000 twelfth graders. The greater stability of Design II is discussed.…

The reliability of Mantel-Haenszel (MH) indexes across samples of examinees and sample sizes and their robustness to item context effects were investigated with data for 670 African-American and 5,015 white students from the Second International Mathematics Study. MH procedures can be used to detect differential item functioning. (SLD)

Studied gender differences in answers to constructed-response mathematics items on approximately 500 papers from grades 7 and 10 from the Kansas Assessment Program. Rubric-relevant variables were highly predictive of holistic scores and accounted for some of the gender differences, especially in grade 7. (SLD)

Many significant changes in perspective have to take place before efforts to learn the content and capabilities of children's minds can hold much sway in educational testing. The language of testing, especially of high stakes testing, remains firmly in the realm of "behaviors", "performance" and "competency" defined…

This report presents a summary of areas of progress, as documented in "New Jersey Kids Count 2006," and areas that must be addressed as the state moves into the second half of the first decade of the new century. Gained ground include: (1) The number of children immunized by age 2, screened for lead poisoning, dental problems and other…

The results of this study conclude that there is a multidimensional basis for test score inferences on the mathematics and critical reading sections of the SAT. Results from the exploratory analyses indicate that the data are multidimensional, as mathematics displayed two dimensions and critical reading displayed three dimensions. The correlations…

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…

This PowerPoint report summarizes AISD student demographic and performance results at middle schools as of the end of the 2007-2008 school year.