Botswana has nearly attained universal primary school attendance, but the additional quantitative intake has weakened the original qualitative base. Employing data collected by the National Commission on Education in Botswana, this study looked for ways to derive benchmark measures of the effects of school quality on learning. One method uses a…

A panel of expert referees from the Philadelphia school district categorized items from secondary-level standardized mathematics tests according to National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) subobjectives for mathematics. The following tests were covered by the study: (1) California Achievement Tests (Levels 19 and 20); (2) Comprehensive…

Mathematics 30 is a 12th-grade mathematics course for students in Alberta, Canada. This document is the final test for the course. Intended for administration during June 1989, it contains 45 multiple-choice questions, 7 open-ended machine scorable questions, and 3 written-response questions. Two-and-one-half hours are allowed for completing the…

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a computer assisted remediation program on basic skills mathematics achievement, academic self-concept, and locus of control of students in a dropout retrieval program. A nonrandomized pretest-posttest experimental design was used to compare students from urban settings in two groups.…

The effect of a tutorial and/or homework assistance program conducted by peers during the regular school day was investigated. Subjects were minority students from low socio-economic families. Student-tutors were assigned to provide 35 minutes of daily individualized assistance in mathematics, help that was not available in the home environment.…

Discussed are the results of the 1988 Indiana State High School Mathematics Contest, which attracted 2,523 students. Four multiple-choice tests (each with a 90-minute time limit) based on proficiencies listed in the "Mathematics Proficiency Guide" and published by the Indiana Department of Education were used. The tests were: (1) Algebra…

The Maryland Functional Mathematics Test, Level II (MFMT-II) assesses Maryland students' mastery of functional mathematics skills that are described in the Declared Competencies Index published in 1980 by the Maryland State Department of Education. The test is also used to certify students for graduation from high school and to identify students…

The Maryland Functional Mathematics Test, Level II (MFMT-II) assesses Maryland students' mastery of functional mathematics skills that are described in the Declared Competencies Index published in 1980 by the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE). The test is also used to certify students for graduation from high school and to identify…

The purpose of this study was to discover what teachers believe about problem solving in mathematics and to what extent their beliefs are reflected in the beliefs of students. Ten 5th-grade teachers in a large rural school district volunteered to participate. Each teacher identified one student perceived as successful and one perceived as…

This project was designed to: (1) assess 7th-graders' metacognitive beliefs and processes and investigate how they affect problem-solving behaviors; and (2) explore the extent to which these students can be taught to be more strategic and aware of their own problem-solving behaviors. The primary assessment was conducted by analyzing video tapes of…

This issue of "ETS Policy Notes" discusses gender differences in educational achievement. The first article--"The Gender Gap in Education: How Early and How Large?"--discusses the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), which first measures achievement at age 9 years. Gender differences at that age are generally…

The purposes of this study are to describe teacher-student interaction in a seventh-grade mathematics class and to examine the relationships between teacher-student interaction and achievement by race and sex. Sixteen students taught by a black male were studied. For 10 days near the middle of 45 classroom days, quantitative teacher-student…

This study examined differential item performance in the Progressive Achievement Tests for Mathematics (PAT Math) by both Pakeha (reference--majority) and Maori (focal--minority) students in New Zealand using both Item Response Theory (IRT) and non-IRT techniques. The PAT Math, a 50-item standardized test used in part to guide within class and…

Convergent validity and divergent validity were studied in several basic skill areas using the multitrait-multimethod procedure outlined by D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959). The academic skill domains considered were: (1) reading; (2) mathematics; (3) writing and language arts; and (4) spelling. A total of 297 students in grades 1 through 5…

The effect of collaborative testing on junior high school students' scores was investigated. Twenty-two students in grades 7, 8, and 9 were given curriculum-based tests in their pre-algebra classes. Some tests were taken individually in the traditional manner, and others were taken collaboratively by students in pairs over a 10-week period.…