The authors examined the short- and long-term effects of high school exit exams (HSEEs) on graduation rates and achievement using an interrupted time series approach. There is a positive overall effect of HSEE introduction for graduation rate trends, which is heterogeneous over time. HSEEs have a negative impact on graduation rates in the year of…

This quantitative study examines the correlation between international student achievement test outcomes and national competitiveness rankings. Student achievement data are derived from a variation-adjusted, common-scale metric data set for 74 countries that have participated in any of the international mathematics and science achievement tests…

The National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination in South Africa is a standardised assessment whose main function is to determine whether Grade 12 learners have mastered subject knowledge at the culmination of their secondary education. Alongside this, the National Benchmark Test Project (NBTP) was introduced to develop the National Benchmark…

Studies using tests scores as the dependent variable often report point estimates in student standard deviation units. We note that a standard deviation is not a standard unit of measurement since the distribution of test scores can vary across contexts. As such, researchers should be cautious when interpreting differences in the numerical size of…

Student explanations of their mathematical thinking and conclusions have become a greater part of the assessment landscape in recent years. With a sample of 71 4th-grade students at-risk for mathematics learning disabilities, we investigated the relation between student accuracy in comparing the magnitude of fractions and the quality of students'…

A growing number of teachers have undertaken National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) certification training since its inception over twenty-five years ago. Previous empirical research on the impact of NBCTs on student performance has focused on state or district-level exams in individual states and found mixed results. This…

There are relatively few studies in Australia and South-East Asian region that combine investigating models of math growth trajectories with predictors such as reasoning ability and reading comprehension skills. Math achievement is one of the major components of overall academic achievement and it is important to determine what factors (especially…

The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of content knowledge on students' socio-scientific argumentation in the Swedish National Assessment in biology, chemistry and physics for 12-year-olds. In Sweden, the assessment of socio-scientific argumentation has been a major part of the National Assessment during three consecutive years and…

This article explores the relationships between (a) the quality of state science standards and student science achievement, (b) the public's belief in teaching evolution and the quality of state standards, and (c) the public's belief in teaching evolution and student science achievement. Using multiple measures, we find no evidence of a…

This study examined equity through the differences average scale scores on the NAEP 2015 12th-grade mathematics test by parents' socioeconomic status (SES) and students' use of graphing calculators in the classroom and while taking the NAEP 2015 assessment. Data were national public composite mathematics 12-grade 2015 NAEP assessment scores. The…

Whilst historically there has been a widespread consensus that teaching grammar has no impact on students' attainment in writing, more recent research suggests that where a functionally oriented approach to grammar is meaningfully embedded within the teaching of writing, significant improvements in writing can be secured. A recent study, using a…

The relationship between reading and empathy was explored. Controlling for GPA and gender, reading variables were hypothesized as related to empathy; the relationship was expected to differ for males and females. For the complete sample, affective components were related to GPA but not reading. Perspective taking was related to reading…

Students enrolled in associate degree programs face social and personal challenges that can affect their learning and assessment skills. Social and personal challenges such as unemployment rates, race, age, and gender may affect their employability. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to examine the mock and national…

Data from competence tests usually show a number of missing responses on test items due to both omitted and not-reached items. Different approaches for dealing with missing responses exist, and there are no clear guidelines on which of those to use. While classical approaches rely on an ignorable missing data mechanism, the most recently developed…

The purpose of the study was to measure students' reported test-taking effort and the relationship between reported effort and performance on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) Advanced mathematics test. This was done in three countries participating in TIMSS Advanced 2008 (Sweden, Norway, and Slovenia), and the…