Closer Look 2009

U.S. Performance Across International Assessments of Student Achievement

Appendix A: Technical Notes

These technical notes describe the various issues that are important to keep in mind when interpreting sampling data and the various procedures governing the collection and analysis of assessment data. For detailed information about NCES datasets, see http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/.

A.1	Limitations of sampled data
A.2	International requirements for sampling, data collection, and response rates
A.3	Test development
A.4	Scoring
A.5	Data entry and cleaning
A.6	Weighting and scaling
A.7	Cutpoint scores and achievement levels
A.8	Comparing results from PISA 2000, 2003, and 2006
A.9	Comparing results from TIMSS 1995 and 1999
A.10	Confidentiality and disclosure limitations
A.11	Nonresponse bias analysis
A.12	State participation in international assessments

Would you like to help us improve our products and website by taking a short survey?

YES, I would like to take the survey

or

No Thanks

The survey consists of a few short questions and takes less than one minute to complete.