The estimate of instructional hours per day for the United States as a whole comes from the International Assessment of Educational Progress and includes only instructional hours. Formal instruction is that which takes place, generally in a classroom, between a teacher and a set group of students on a regularly scheduled basis. The difference was subtracted from each state's estimated school hours per day to arrive at an instructional hours per day figure for each state. These figures were then checked against the state requirements for minimum length of the instructional school day, and all appeared equal to or greater than the minimums. In conjunction with the International Assessment of Educational Progress, three questionnaires were administered to the national education minister, to administrators of participating schools, and to students sitting for the mathematics exam.
Indicators here draw from results of the latter two.
In conjunction with the National Assessment of Educational Progress, three questionnaires were administered to administrators of participating schools, to teachers in participating classrooms, and to students sitting for the mathematics exam. Indicators here draw from results of all three of the questionnaires. The IAEP and the NAEP employed mathematics tests that were so similar that comparisons across countries and states could be validly made. Each test administration was also accompanied by questionnaires that asked students, teachers, school administrators, and education ministers various questions about classroom practices, study habits, education system characteristics, and family backgrounds. While the tests given the students were very much alike, the IAEP and NAEP questionnaires were not so similar.