International Mathematics and Science Study

Because scores from different administrations are expressed on a single scale, countries that have participated in more than one TIMSS cycle can analyze their achievement trends over time (Mullis and Martin 2017).

TIMSS distinguishes between intended, implemented, and attained curriculum. The intended curriculum represents society’s goals for teaching and learning as codified in curricula, syllabi, and policy statements and reflected in textbooks, educational resources, and national assessments. The implemented curriculum is how teachers interpret the intended curriculum and make it available to students. The attained curriculum is what students have learned, as inferred from their performance on TIMSS and other assessments.

Table 8.1 summarizes the mathematics and science content and cognitive domains measured in TIMSS 2019. There is some overlap in the content assessed in grades 4 and 8, but there is also a progression in the complexity of what is assessed at each grade level. For instance, the grade 4 mathematics assessment emphasizes numbers more than the grade 8 assessment, which includes more-abstract topics, such as algebra and probability. The cognitive domains are consistent across assessments but with more emphasis on basic cognitive skills in the grade 4 assessments and on more complex cognitive skills in the grade 8 assessments (Mullis and Martin 2017).

The TIMSS assessment frameworks are updated in each assessment cycle to take into account the curricula and learning standards of the participating countries. International experts review potential framework updates. Once updates are approved, the framework is modified, and related assessment content is developed in a consensus-building process among participating countries (Mullis and Martin 2017).

TABLE 8.1. Content and Cognitive Domains Measured in the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study

Subject Grade Domain content (percentage of assessment devoted to this content) Cognitive domain

Mathematics 4 • Number (50) • Measurement and geometry (30) • Data (20)

Science

8 • Number (30) • Algebra (30) • Geometry (20) • Data and probability (20) 4 • Life science (45) • Physical science (35) • Earth science (20) 8 • Biology (35) • Chemistry (20) • Physics (25) • Earth science (20)

Source: Adapted from Mullis and Martin 2017. • Knowing. The conceptual knowledge, facts, and familiar procedures students need to know.

• Applying. Students’ ability to apply conceptual knowledge to solve familiar real-life problems.

• Reasoning. Goes beyond the solution of routine problems to include unfamiliar situations, complex contexts, and multistep problems.

As of the most recent assessment cycle, participating countries were able to choose between a pencil-and-paper or computer-based administration format. In 2019, approximately one-half of participating countries chose pencil-and-paper administration, and the other half chose computer-based administration. In general, the trend is toward computer-based administration, which allows the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement to include more innovative problem-solving and inquiry tasks in the assessment. Computer-based assessments also enable more efficient automated scoring of multiple-choice and some constructed response items, instead of relying solely on human raters to score and record student responses (Mullis and Martin 2017).

Background questionnaires for students, teachers, school principals, parents, and country representatives accompany TIMSS assessments. The student questionnaire collects information on student experiences with and attitudes toward mathematics and science. The questionnaires for teachers and principals gather information on school and classroom resources and instructional approaches. Parents answer a questionnaire focused on contexts for learning at home. Country representatives provide information on content coverage and learning trajectories in the national curriculum (Mullis and Martin 2017).

Map 8.1 shows country participation in TIMSS from 1995 to 2019. Most participating countries are in Europe, Central and East Asia, and the Middle East. Few Latin American or African countries have participated in TIMSS. Australia; England; Hong Kong SAR, China; Hungary; Islamic Republic of Iran; Italy; Japan; Lithuania; New Zealand; Russian Federation; Singapore; Slovenia; the United States; and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec have participated in all seven TIMSS cycles. The TIMSS website includes historical information about country participation in each TIMSS study cycle.

TIMSS presents findings in terms of the overall score of each participating country; the distribution of achievement within each country, including percentage of students reaching various performance levels; the differences between particular student groups (for example, boys versus girls); and the relative performance in different topic and skill areas.

For example, figure 8.1 shows proficiency level distributions for each country that participated in the grade 4 mathematics assessment for TIMSS 2019. Countries with similar overall scores have quite different distributions of student achievement. This is why it is important to look beyond the overall score when examining a country’s results on TIMSS.

TIMSS also presents results in terms of percentages of students in each country reaching various international benchmarks: low, intermediate, high, and advanced. In 2019, only 7 percent of students in grade 4 scored above the advanced international benchmark in mathematics. This benchmark is linked to the capacity to apply mathematical knowledge and reasoning to complex multistep problems and explain one’s solution process. At the same time, only 8 percent of students who participated in TIMSS 2019 performed below the lowest benchmark; these students are not able to solve basic arithmetic problems and lack knowledge of fractions, geometry, and measurement. Singapore; Hong Kong SAR, China; and the Republic of Korea had the largest proportion