Abstract
This study demonstrates that the validity and usefulness of mathematics achievement tests can be improved by defining psychologically meaningful subscores that yield differential relations with student, teacher, and school variables. The NELS:88 8th- and 10th-grade math tests were subjected to full information item factor analysis. Math knowledge and math reasoning factors were distinguished at both grade levels. Regression analyses showed that student attitudes, instructional variables, course, and program experiences related more to knowledge, whereas gender, SES, and some ethnic differences related more to reasoning. Teacher emphasis on higher order thinking, student use of home computers, and early experience with advanced math courses related to both dimensions. It is recommended that national educational surveys use multidimensional achievement scores, not total scores alone.
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