SIMS: U.S. Eighth-Grade Math Achievement with Pre- and Post-Test Scores

Bengt Muthén's article analyzes U.S. student mathematics achievement data from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS). The data contains measurements taken at the beginning and end of eighth grade, with each score containing a large amount of measurement error. The analysis uses multilevel factor analysis to address variance decomposition between and within classes over the school year.

Use Cases

• Modeling between-class and within-class variance decomposition based on the described achievement scores.
• Studying the change in achievement variance decomposition over time based on the pre- and post-test structure.
• Assessing the effects of measurement error on variance analysis using the described multilevel factor analysis methodology.
• Comparing results from random effects ANOVA and multilevel factor analysis on educational data with unreliable scores.

Strengths

• Data originates from the established Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS).
• Analysis addresses specific methodological issues like the distorting effects of unreliability on variance decomposition.
• The dataset includes longitudinal measurements from the beginning and end of the eighth grade.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) as analyzed by Bengt Muthén of UCLA.

Collection Method

Educational assessment study measuring mathematics achievement.

Time Range

Covers the eighth-grade school year (specific years not provided).

Geography

United States