User Guide for the TIMSS International Database.pdf - TIMSS and ...

C H A P T E R 7 D A T A B A S E F I L E S
7.6 Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Data Files
To investigate the match of the TIMSS tests to the curricula of each of the participating countries,
TIMSS carried out a special analysis called the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis (TCMA).
Each country was to identify, for each item, whether the topic of the item was intended in the
curriculum for the majority of the students. Results based on items considered appropriate are
presented in Appendix B of Beaton et al. (1996a); Beaton et al. (1996b); Mullis et al. (1997); and
Martin et al. (1997). The selection of the items by each country, by grade, is included as part of
the International Database.
There are four files that contain the item selection by each country, at each grade level. These
files are located in the subdirectory called TCMA in the corresponding CD. The four files are:
TCMAMP1.CSV Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Population 1 mathematics
item selection
TCMASP1.CSV Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Population 1 science item
selection
TCMAMP2.CSV Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Population 2 mathematics
item selection
TCMASP2.CSV Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Population 2 science item
selection
These files are in text format, with their fields separated by commas. The first record for each file
contains the labels for each field in the file. Each row in the file contains a country's selection for
inclusion (indicated with a "1") or exclusion (indicated with a "0") of the items for a specific
grade level. For more information on the TCMA see Beaton and Gonzalez (1997).
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