Comparison of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Third International Mathematics and Science Study Repeat (TIMSS-R), and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)

摘要

This report compares the eighth-grade science and mathematics portions of NAEP 2000 with TIMSS-R (the repeat of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study) and the scientific literacy and mathematics literacy portions of PISA (the OECDs Programme for International Student Assessment). It is based on the work of expert panels in mathematics and science education who examined items on each of the three assessments in terms of content, response type, context, requirements for multi-step reasoning, and other characteristics. For all of the characteristics except content, the panels used sets of descriptors developed specifically for this comparison. In the area of curriculum content, panel members compared the three assessments to the NAEP Fields of Science and mathematics Content Strands. The assessments were thus compared using a set of common criteria, which, in almost all cases, were different from the criteria used to develop each assessment. This system of classification was intended to facilitate a comparison of the three assessments and not to make judgments regarding their quality. Each assessment was developed based on a different underlying philosophy and set of frameworks. As a result, while sharing many common characteristics, the assessments each have different emphases on content and item type.