Developments in school education in Australia over the past decade have witnessed the rise of national efforts to reform curriculum, assessment and reporting. Constitutionally the power to decide on curriculum matters still resides with the States. Higher stakes in assessment, brought about by national testing and international comparative…

Data from international comparative studies in education are generally derived from complex, multi-stage sample designs and rotated assessments. Consequently, care must be taken not only in estimating variance components but also in interpreting them. Target population definitions, the nature of the sampling stages and their sampling units, and…