The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which the interpretation and use of test scores from a school district's mathematics test may be meaningful and valid for making instructional decisions, for measuring growth, and for making accountability decisions. The data used for the study came from six levels of a standardized mathematics test that grouped items into six specific categories to match the district's curriculum. The district's mathematics curriculum referred to the six item categories as "strands." The six strands were Number Sense, Data Analysis, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, and Structure/Logic. The test items were grouped in each test booklet by item categories (strands) and thus formed six strand subtests. Factor analysis was used to examine the structure of each of the six test levels. Findings from the factor analysis indicated that there was more than one dimension (underlying construct) at each test level. Factor loadings were found to group by strand and not by item difficulty. Analysis of variance and correlation procedures were used to gather evidence that was confirmatory in nature to help verify the findings from the factor analysis. An analysis of variance found a significant difference between some of the strands in pairwise comparisons, which supported the findings from the factor analysis indicating that more than one construct (dimension) was being measured. Strand intercorrelation coefficients that were corrected for attenuation showed strong relationships among strands, which supported test unidimensionality. It was concluded that there was evidence to support an overall dimension called mathematics, but that there was also evidence to support other dimensions which reflected the six mathematics strands.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/288979 |
| Date | January 1999 |
| Creators | Carriveau, Ronald S. |
| Contributors | Sabers, Darrell L. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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