In international large-scale assessments, students may not be compelled to answer every test item: a student can decide to skip a seemingly difficult item or may drop out before the end of the test is reached. The way these missing responses are treated will affect the estimation of the item difficulty and student ability, and ultimately affect…

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is a long-standing international assessment of mathematics and science at the fourth and eighth grades, collecting trend data every four years since 1995. Over 70 countries rely on TIMSS to monitor their education systems in a global context, benchmarking national curricula and…

We previously (Gantt et al., 2023; Paoletti et al., 2021) identified items from the publicly released TIMSS 2011 assessments that had potential for students to employ covariational reasoning as a solution strategy. In this report, we explore the extent to which fourth-grade students' performance on such items in mathematics differed among 26…

This study explores the level of congruency between students' ratings of their own emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties, and their teachers' ratings of these factors, when compared amongst two neighboring countries, Estonia and Finland. Secondly, it investigates the level of agreement between sixth grade students' ratings and their…

This study analyzed the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2011 data on fourth-grade U.S. students' mathematics performance to answer four research questions: (a) How did U.S. students' geometry performance compare with their performance on the other mathematics subscales? (b) What were the patterns of student achievement among…

Background: Proficient reading skills are crucial for Foundation Phase learners to develop critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. The 2021 PIRLS assessment highlighted alarmingly low reading proficiency among ten-year-olds. Effective reading instruction, and a positive reading environment are essential for developing confident, skilled…

In studies of educational achievement, students' self-reported number of books in the family home is a frequently used proxy for social, cultural, and economic background. Absent hard evidence about what this variable captures or how well, its use has been motivated by strong associations with student outcomes. I show that these associations rest…

This study describes the mathematical processes in TIMSS (Trends in Mathematics and Science Study) to reflect issues. A descriptive qualitative methodology was used in this analysis as the research approach. The research allocated the respondent to the 6th grade students of Muhammadiyah 6 in the sub-district of Dau, Malang regency, East Java,…

The purpose of this study is to explore elementary educators' perceptions regarding what it means to conceptually understand mathematics, the emphasis teachers place on utilizing evidence-based teaching processes, as identified as effective by National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), and how these perceptions influence their…

Detection of students' ability levels is one of the common aims in educational studies. Cognitive Diagnosis Modeling approach has been used recently for the purpose of ability level detection by defined Q-matrices. To evaluate students' strengths and weaknesses, determine their mastery skills, and design instructions and interventions in learning…

This study examined the associations between school entry skills and science achievement at both the student and school levels among fourth-grade students in South Korea, Singapore, Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Hong Kong. Data of the five Asian regions in the 2015 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were analysed. Variables…

The purpose of this study is to identify primary school students' thinking processes within the mathematical modeling process and the challenges they encounter, if any. This is a basic qualitative research study conducted in a primary school in the city of Kütahya in the academic year of 2015-2016. The study group of the research was composed of…

This report summarises Year 6 pupils' attainment in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) survey of 2016 in Northern Ireland and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is an international comparison study of reading at ages 9-10. PIRLS has a five-yearly cycle. Northern Ireland took part in PIRLS for the second time…

This summary accompanies the national report for Northern Ireland (Sizmur et al., 2017). It outlines the attainment of Year 6 pupils in Northern Ireland in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2016 survey and explores the context of that attainment. PIRLS is a study of reading at ages 9-10 and has a five-yearly cycle.…

Mathematical problem solving typically involves manipulating visual symbols (e.g., equations), and prior research suggests that those symbols serve as diagrammatic representations (e.g., Landy & Goldstone, 2010). The present work examines the ways that instructional design of student engagement with these diagrammatic representations may…