Math fluency (MF) is the ability to quickly and accurately solve simple math exercises. Proficiency in MF is one of the buildings of arithmetic achievement during school. However, so far only paper and pencil tests have been used to assess MF. In the current study, we present the BGU-MF (Ben-Gurion University Math Fluency) test, a new computerized…

Evaluation in mathematics is an inherent part of the discipline. In the current study, issues in the assessment of mathematics that concern MTs and S-MTs are studied. The basic assumption for this study is that improving teachers' ability to deal with the challenges of assessment necessitates examining whether those issues are essential or…

The Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System (NSCAS) is a statewide assessment system that embodies Nebraska's holistic view of students and helps them prepare for success in postsecondary education, career, and civic life. It uses multiple measures throughout the year to provide educators and decision-makers at all levels with the insights…

The PM Benchmark Reading Assessment Resource (PM Benchmarks) provides information about primary students' level of achievement in reading accurately, fluently, and in understanding unseen texts. As part of the assessment, students have to orally retell what they have read and orally answer comprehension questions. This oral use of language…

Open book assessment is not a new idea, but it does not seem to have gained ground in higher education. In particular, not much literature is available on open book examinations in mathematics and statistics in higher education. The objective of this paper is to investigate the appropriateness of open book assessments in a first-year business…

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of dimensionality, common-item set format, and different scale linking methods on preserving equity property with mixed-format test equating. Item response theory (IRT) true-score equating (TSE) and IRT observed-score equating (OSE) methods were used under common-item nonequivalent groups design.…

Previous research has documented schemes and operations that undergird students' understanding of fractions. This prior research was based, in large part, on small-group teaching experiments. However, written assessments are needed in order for teachers and researchers to assess students' ways of operating on a whole-class scale. In this study,…

Approximately one-third of American freshmen at two-year and four-year colleges require remedial coursework and over 40 percent of employers rate new hires with a high school diploma as "deficient" in their overall preparation for entry-level jobs. Yet, over the past decade, as these students marched through America's public education…

A consistent message emerges from research on undergraduate students' perceptions of assessment which describes traditional assessment as detrimental to learning. However this literature has not included students in the pure sciences. Mathematics education literature advocates the introduction of innovative assessment at university. In this…

Significant momentum exists for next-generation assessments to increasingly utilize technology to develop and deliver performance-based assessments. Many traditional challenges with this assessment approach still apply, including psychometric concerns related to performance-based tasks (PBTs), which include low reliability, efficiency of…

Research studies have shown that a smaller percentage of students with learning disabilities participate in state assessments than do their peers without learning disabilities. Furthermore, there is almost always a performance gap between these groups of students on these assessments. It is important to evaluate whether a performance gap on a…

The National Assessment Governing Board used a new method to set achievement level standards on the 2005 Grade 12 NAEP Math test. In this article, we summarize our independent evaluation of the process used to set these standards. The evaluation data included observations of the standard-setting meeting, observations of advisory committee meetings…

In assessing the utility of a test, two issues stand out: whether it provides information of interest to test consumers, and whether scores generated by the test assist in making good decisions. Validity addresses these two issues, making an assessment of test validity the single most important product provided by test developers. Unfortunately,…

Validation efforts typically focus around what, exactly, is measured by an instrument(s), and whether what is measured corresponds to the theoretical domain(s) originally specified. The authors' goal for this article is to build instruments focused around measuring the mathematical knowledge used in teaching: not only the content that teachers…

This study investigated the technical adequacy of 3 simple, 1-min curriculum-based measurements (CBM) for predicting third (n = 35) and fifth (n = 49) graders' performance on a state standards test of mathematics. Measures included 2 numeric CBMs: a traditional basic facts measure and a new "cloze" math facts measure, designed to require deeper…