IEA and ETS Issue Third Volume in Assessment Monograph Series

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Princeton, N.J. (October 12, 2010) —

Officials of the IEA-ETS Research Institute (IERI) announced the release today of the third volume in their annual monograph series that addresses the scientific and methodological issues related to the design and implementation of large-scale group assessments.

Similar to the first two volumes, the monograph released today features innovative and groundbreaking articles by some of the world's leading research experts in large-scale assessment. Issues and Methodologies in Large-Scale Assessments is edited by Matthias von Davier, Principal Research Scientist at ETS and head of the IERI research unit, and Dirk Hastedt, co-Director of the IEA Data Processing and Research Center in Hamburg, Germany.

The goal of the series is to contribute to the science of large-scale assessments by providing a dedicated forum through which scientific and methodological issues related to the design and implementation of large-scale assessments can be examined.

Topics in the current issue

Among the papers in Volume 3 are contributions from ETS Research & Development staff members, including Eugenio Gonzalez, Zhumei Guo, Jiahe Qian, Sandip Sinharay and Matthias von Davier. Below is a list of all the papers in the volume:

  • The Importance of Class Composition for Reading Achievement, Migration Background, Social Composition, and Instructional Practices: An Analysis of the German 2006 PIRLS Data, by Nicole Bellin, Oscar Dunge and Catherine Gunzenhauser
  • Assessing Fit of Latent Regression Models, by Sandip Sinharay, Zhumei Guo, Matthias von Davier and Bernard P. Veldkamp
  • School Quality and Student Achievement in 21 European Countries: The Heyneman-Loxley Effect Revisited, by Sonia Ilie and Petra Lietz
  • One Approach to Detecting the Invariance of Proficiency Standards Over Time, by Jiahe Qian
  • The Relationship Between Motivational Components and Reading Competency of Hungarian-Speaking Children in Three Countries: A Secondary Analysis of the PIRLS 2001 and 2006 Data, by Éva D. Molnár and László Székely
  • Principles of Multiple Matrix Booklet Designs and Parameter Recovery in Large-Scale Assessments, by Eugenio Gonzalez and Leslie Rutkowski
  • A Blind Item-Review Process as a Method to Investigate Invalid Moderators of Item Difficulty in Translated Assessment Items, by Enis Dogan and Ruhan Circi

Each paper in the monograph series receives careful evaluation by the IERI Executive Committee, including a blind peer review by experts from ETS and the IEA as well as by external expert reviewers from other international organizations. The papers chosen were consistent with the IERI mission and goals.

"This third volume confirms the commitment of both organizations to support and publish quality research relating to a wide range of methodological issues associated with the development and reporting of large-scale national and international assessments," says Irwin Kirsch, Distinguished Presidential Appointee and Director of the Center for Global Assessment at ETS.

"This edition of the monograph furthers the goal of both organizations to advance the science of large scale assessment." says Hans Wagemaker, Executive Director of IEA. "The most recent contributions address several issues of relevance from both a national and international perspective."

Contributions to future monographs in the series are currently being sought from researchers and scholars who share an interest in the advancement and use of large-scale surveys.

The monograph is available for download from the IERI's website at the following URL: http://www.ierinstitute.org/dissemination-area.html.

About ETS

At nonprofit ETS, we advance quality and equity in education for people worldwide by creating assessments based on rigorous research. ETS serves individuals, educational institutions and government agencies by providing customized solutions for teacher certification, English language learning, and elementary, secondary and post-secondary education, as well as conducting education research, analysis and policy studies. Founded in 1947, ETS develops, administers and scores more than 50 million tests annually — including the TOEFL® and TOEIC® tests, the GRE® tests and The Praxis Series ™ assessments — in more than 180 countries, at over 9,000 locations worldwide.

About the IEA

The IEA is an independent, nonprofit, international cooperative of national research institutions and governmental research agencies. Additional information is available at www.iea.nl.