01/04/05 — U.S. students in the fourth and eighth grade significantly outperformed their peers from many other countries in mathematics and science, reports the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).
U.S. eighth graders improved their average scores from previous TIMSS in 1999 and 1995. Among eighth graders, various subgroups also improved, including boys, girls, and minority students. However, scores for American fourth graders remained stable in both math and science.
The TIMSS measures academic performance for students from as many as 46 nations, including economically developed members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
U.S. eighth graders had an average score of 504 in math out of a possible 1,000 points and ranked 15th out of 45 countries.
The top-scoring countries in eighth-grade math are Singapore (605), South Korea (589), and Hong Kong (586). Some of the other countries that had higher scores than the United States are Estonia, Hungary, and Russia. American eighth graders outperformed such industrial nations as Sweden, Norway, and Scotland.
In science, U.S. eighth graders ranked ninth.
Singapore had the highest scores on both tests for both grade levels.
While the average score for U.S. fourth graders in math did not change between 1995 and 2003, the U.S. dropped to 12th place because students in other countries improved. U.S. fourth graders were sixth in science.
Outgoing Education Secretary Rod Paige says the eighth-grade results “confirm what we have seen domestically — that a greater emphasis on higher standards in the classroom leads to improved performance and a smaller achievement gap. However, the results also show that we have further to go, particularly in earlier grades, toward establishing a culture of excellence and achievement at all grade levels.”
“One can argue whether it’s fast enough, high enough, quick enough,” says Patrick Gonzalez, the U.S. research coordinator for the test. “But what it means is improvement.”
TIMSS is organized under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, based in Amsterdam. It is directed in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics with additional financial support from the National Science Foundation.
TIMSS included 9,000 U.S. eighth graders in 230 schools and 10,000 fourth graders in 250 schools.
In other highlights from the study:
• In 2003, U.S. eighth graders showed the most improvements in math between 1995 and 1999 and in science between 1999 and 2003. The performance of U.S. eighth graders in both subjects was higher in 2003 than 1995 relative to the 21 other countries that participated in the studies.
• No measurable changes were detected in the average math and science scores of U.S. fourth graders between 1995 and 2003. The data suggest that the performance of U.S. fourth graders in both subjects was lower in 2003 than in 1995 relative to the 14 other countries that participated in those studies.
• U.S. fourth-grade girls showed no measurable change in their average performance in math and science between 1995 and 2003. U.S. fourth-grade boys also did not show measurable change in their average math performance over that period but did show a measurable decline in science.
• U.S. African American fourth graders and eighth graders and Hispanic eighth graders improved significantly in math and science between 1995 and 2003. As a result, the gap in achievement between white and black students in both grades narrowed between 1995 and 2003 in math and science.
TIMSS is considered to provide a more accurate picture of U.S. student achievement in math and science than the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), released Dec. 6, which ranked U.S. students near the bottom.
That’s because TIMSS is more closely aligned with the curriculum in most U.S. schools, while PISA examines students’ ability to apply the math they learned in practical situations.
When the TIMSS results were announced Dec. 14 at a news conference at the International Study Center at Boston College, the center’s co-director, Ina V.S. Mullis, said, “The United States has moved up a little, but there is still a huge gap between what our students can do and what students do in the high-performing Asian countries.”
Mullis noted that 44 percent of the students in Singapore and 38 percent in Taiwan perform at the advanced level, compared to 7 percent in the United States.
Test officials at the news conference suggested U.S. students could do better if teachers are better prepared in math and science, the curriculum is more focused on addressing topics in depth, and the nation places a greater value on the relationship between math and science and economic growth.
The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) hailed the TIMSS results. “The significant improvement by American eighth graders in mathematics performance affirms that we are moving in the right direction,” says NCTM President Cathy Seeley.
But noting that student performance in math continues to be related to socioeconomic status, Seeley says: “These results demonstrate the urgent need to look at what kind of math program we are offering to children in less-affluent schools. Are we limiting the math experiences of our children most in need?”
Gerald Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association, says he is not surprised by the lack of improvement of fourth graders. “We’ve been hearing from many elementary teachers that they are not teaching science because of the increased emphasis on literacy. Science is essentially being squeezed out of the elementary classroom.”