Assessing the achievement of students in elementary and secondary schools and the nation's educational progress is fundamental to informing education policy approaches. Congressional interest in this area includes and extends beyond the annual assessments administered by states to comply with the educational accountability requirements of Title…

The presence of outlying anchor items is an issue faced by many testing agencies. The decision to retain or remove an item is a difficult one, especially when the content representation of the anchor set becomes questionable by item removal decisions. Additionally, the reason for the aberrancy is not always clear, and if the performance of the…

Problems in using comparative data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study include the following: inadequate funding of the research; unique cultural factors; questionable sampling procedures; noncomparative curricula; irregularities in test administration; and student preparation for tests. Results do not identify the root…