Chapter 13 The TIMSS 2007 International Benchmarks of Student Achievement in Mathematics and Science Ina V.S. Mullis, Ebru Erberber, and Corinna Preuschoff 13.1 Overview it is important for users of the ti MSS achievement results to understand what the scores on the ti MSS mathematics and science achievement scales mean. t hat is, what does it mean to have a scale score of 513 or 426? t o describe student performance at various points along the ti MSS mathematics and science achievement scales, ti MSS 2007 used scale anchoring to summarize and describe student achievement at four points on the mathematics and science scales—a dvanced international Benchmark (625), h igh international Benchmark (550), intermediate international Benchmark (475), and Low international Benchmark (400). f or the description of performance at the international benchmarks please see TIMSS 2007 International Mathematics Report (Mullis, Martin, & f oy, 2008) and TIMSS 2007 International Science Report (Martin, Mullis, & f oy, 2008). t his chapter describes the scale anchoring procedures that were applied to describe student performance at these benchmarks. information about the ti MSS 2007 achievement scales and details about the methods used for scaling were presented in c hapter 11. in brief, scale anchoring involves selecting benchmarks (scale points) on the ti MSS achievement scales to be described in terms of student performance and then identifying items that students ...
1 The description of the scale anchoring procedure was adapted from Kelly (1999), and Gregory and Mullis (2000).
620–630
Advanced Benchmark
chapter 13: The TIMSS 7 International Benchmarks of Student Achievement in Mathematics and Science
13.3
Identifying the Students Achieving at the International Benchmarks
Range Around Each International Benchmark and Number of Students Within Each Range – Science
5732 5639
2981 2767
620–630
545–555
470–480
High Benchmark
Intermediate Benchmark
Low Benchmark
395–405
Exhibit 13.2
395–405
2950 6393
Range of Scale Scores Fourth Grade Eighth Grade
470–480
5091 8366
3151 6969
545–555
6321 6749
5243 7649
13.4
The Scale Anchoring Criteria
Range Around Each International Benchmark and Number of Students Within Each Range – Mathematics Intermediate High Advanced Low Benchmark Benchmark Benchmark Benchmark
Number of Items Anchoring at Each International Benchmark by Content Domain – Fourth Grade Mathematics*
Too Intermediate High Advanced Low (400) Difficult Total (475) (550) (625) to Anchor Number6 15 36 30 4 91 Geometric Shapes 5 13 20 18 4 60 and Measures Data Display3 11 – 269 3 Total 14 39 65 51 8 177 * Following the item review, 2 items were deleted out of 179 items in the mathematics fourth grade test, resulting in 177 items (see Chapter 10 for more details on the item review process).
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chapter 13: The TIMSS 7 International Benchmarks of Student Achievement in Mathematics and Science
Exhibit 13.4
Number of Items Anchoring at Each International Benchmark by Content Domain – Eighth Grade Mathematics*
Too Intermediate High Advanced Low (400) Difficult Total (475) (550) (625) to Anchor Number5 17 24 14 3 63 Algebra29 26 1 7 1 64 Geometry22 17 – 7 1 47 Data and Chance403 9 19 8 1 Total 9 40 94 65 6 214 * Following the item review, 1 item was deleted out of 215 items in the mathematics eighth grade test, resulting in 214 items (see Chapter 10 for more details on the item review process).
Exhibit 13.5
Number of Items Anchoring at Each International Benchmark by Content Domain – Fourth Grade Science*
Too Intermediate High Advanced Low (400) Difficult Total (475) (550) (625) to Anchor Life Science15 20 7 17 12 71 Physical Science28 15 7 9 5 64 Earth Science4 3511 13 1 6 Total 15 32 54 48 21 170 * Following the item review, 3 items were deleted out of 174 items in the science fourth grade test, resulting in 171 items. Also, 1 two-part item was combined to form a single item, further reducing the number of items to 170 (see Chapter 10 for more details on the item review process).
Exhibit 13.6
Number of Items Anchoring at Each International Benchmark by Content Domain – Eighth Grade Science*
Too Intermediate High Advanced Low (400) Difficult Total (475) (550) (625) to Anchor Biology26 25 11 752 11 Chemistry3 4 7 4111 16 Physics5414 24 12 2 2 Earth Science- 6 17 12 5 40 Total 7 23 68 77 35 210 * Following the item review, 4 items were deleted out of 214 items in the science eighth grade test, resulting in 210 items (see Chapter 10 for more details on the item review process).
13.6
Experts Review Anchor Items by International Benchmark and Content Domains to Develop the Descriptions of Achievement
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