The 3rd Internat. Math. and Science Study (TIMSS) is an internat. comparative study designed to provide info. about educ'l. achiev. and learning contexts for the participating countries. The Nat. Assess. of Educ'l. Progress (NAEP) surveys the educ'l. accomplish. of U.S. students and monitors changes in those accomplish. NAEP tracks the educ'l. achievements of 4th-, 8th-, 11th-, and 12th-grade students over time in selected content areas. Because TIMSS and NAEP were administered within a year of each other, there has been interest in attempting to link the 2 assessments. This report links NAEP results to TIMSS results for grade 8 math. and science.

This is Volume 18, Issue 1 2005, a Special Issue of Applied Measurement in Education looking at the area of Vertically Moderated Standard Setting. As well as the editor’s introduction this collection includes six articles which cover: background on the need for YMSS, and presents a strong argument for aligning policy aims and psychometric methods to achieve coherent systems of educational assessments in general, and corresponding performance standards; background on YMSS and discusses possible alternatives; the third article, examines YMSS from the perspective of the sponsoring agency or authority responsible for conducting and applying standard-setting procedures; in kindergarten through 12th-grade applications, ; a recounting of the road to a system of vertically moderated standards across Grades 3 through 8 for a state-level science assessment program in South Carolina; describing the situations for which YMSS is a viable alternative to vertical scaling or equating and finally, an example of YMSS applied to the South Carolina student assessments in English language arts and mathematics across Grades 3 through 7.

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license.​​ This book describes the extensive contributions made toward the advancement of human assessment by scientists from one of the world’s leading research institutions, Educational Testing Service. The book’s four major sections detail research and development in measurement and statistics, education policy analysis and evaluation, scientific psychology, and validity. Many of the developments presented have become de-facto standards in educational and psychological measurement, including in item response theory (IRT), linking and equating, differential item functioning (DIF), and educational surveys like the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), the Programme of international Student Assessment (PISA), the Progress of International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) and the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). In addition to its comprehensive coverage of contributions to the theory and methodology of educational and psychological measurement and statistics, the book gives significant attention to ETS work in cognitive, personality, developmental, and social psychology, and to education policy analysis and program evaluation. The chapter authors are long-standing experts who provide broad coverage and thoughtful insights that build upon decades of experience in research and best practices for measurement, evaluation, scientific psychology, and education policy analysis. Opening with a chapter on the genesis of ETS and closing with a synthesis of the enormously diverse set of contributions made over its 70-year history, the book is a useful resource for all interested in the improvement of human assessment.