The Robustness of Conclusions Based on TIMSS Mean Grades

Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics Working Paper Series No. 37

32 Pages Posted: 14 May 2008

See all articles by Edna Schechtman

Edna Schechtman

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Department of Industrial Engineering and Management

Efrat Soffer

affiliation not provided to SSRN

Shlomo Yitzhaki

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Date Written: May 2008

Abstract

Globalization and computerization enable the wide use of comparisons of average grades achieved in standardized exams by students from different nations and the rankings of the nations, based on the average grades of their students. The results are reported in front pages of newspapers. This paper suggests a method for examining the robustness of those results and illustrates it by analyzing the results of five countries reported in TIMSS. In more than sixty five percent of the comparisons examined it is found that there exists an alternative legitimate exam that will reverse the ranking of the countries.

Keywords: Ability, Measurement, TIMSS

JEL Classification: I20

Suggested Citation

Schechtman, Edna and Soffer, Efrat and Yitzhaki, Shlomo, The Robustness of Conclusions Based on TIMSS Mean Grades (May 2008). Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics Working Paper Series No. 37, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1131844 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1131844

Edna Schechtman (Contact Author)

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev - Department of Industrial Engineering and Management ( email )

Beer-Sheva 84105
Israel
+972 8 647 2596 (Phone)
+972 8 647 2958 (Fax)

Efrat Soffer

affiliation not provided to SSRN ( email )

Shlomo Yitzhaki

Hebrew University of Jerusalem - Department of Economics ( email )

Mount Scopus
Jerusalem, 91905
Israel
+972 2 659 2201 (Phone)
+972 2 652 2319 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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