Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study report released

by Jay McDonough

The most recent report of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) were released yesterday.  The 2007 TIMSS report evaluates fourth and eighth grade math and science performance internationally (50 countries) and ranks, by country, average test scores.  The study was first administered in 1995 and has been conducted every four years since.  In the U.S. more than 20,000 students in nearly 500 public and private schools participated.

The chart at the right summarizes the results.  The details:

In the math section: Hong Kong, Singapore, Taipei, Japan, Kazakhtstan, Russia, England, Latvia, Netherlands, and Lithuania scored higher than fourth grade U.S. students.  Taipei, South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Hungary, England and Russia had higher math scores than U.S. eighth graders.

In the science section:  Singapore, Taipei, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia, Latvia and England had higher scores than fourth grade U.S. students.  Singapore, Taipei, Japan, South Korea, England, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hong Kong and Russia scored higher than U.S. eighth graders.

Not unexpectedly, one can find some good news and some bad news in the report for the United States.  U.S. students have shown gains in math at both the fourth and eighth grade levels since 1995, but science scores have been stagnant for the last twelve years at both grade levels.

It's important to remember the report is data only and doesn't develop conclusions.  While it's reasonable to ask whether the U.S. should be satisfied with the current rankings, it should also be noted the U.S. is the richest nation in the world with arguably the highest standard of living.  In other words, are the results good enough?

But there are a couple troubling aspects in the results.  There are many very poor nations included in the report.  When the U.S. test scores are compared to similarly rich countries, the U.S. performance scores drop to the middle of the pack. 

Another cause for concern is the stagnation of the U.S. scores, particularly in science.  The top tier nations, excluding the U.S. are showing incremental improvements in math and science test scores since testing began in 1995. 

So, on the bright side; the new TIMSS numbers aren't terrible.  The test scores place the U.S., for the most part, in the top ten nations.  The questions seem to be; are these results good enough and will these types of results lull us into complacency while other nations continue to improve their results and become increasingly more serious economic competitors to the United States.

Comments

[Charles II]

I don't know how much this applies presently, but it used to be that many countries attained such high scores only by excluding emotionally- and mentally-disabled children from access to the schools. US scores seemed low, but were actually pretty good when that was factored in. Europe began to mainstream kids, but in Asia I would think it's still pretty rare.