---
title: "Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study"
chunk: 3/3
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T04:22:02.285750+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

=== TIMSS 2015 ===
In TIMSS 2015, nationally representative samples of students in 57 countries and 7 benchmarking entities participated in the fourth grade assessment, the eighth grade assessment, or both.

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

=== TIMSS 2011 ===
TIMSS 2011 had 52 participating educational systems for the fourth grade and 45 for the eighth grade.

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

=== TIMSS 2007 ===
In TIMSS 2007, 43 educational systems participated in the fourth grade and 56 educational systems in the eighth grade.

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

=== TIMSS 2003 ===
In TIMSS 2003, there were 26 educational systems for the fourth grade and 48 for the eighth grade.

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

=== TIMSS 1999 ===
In 1999, TIMSS only focused on the eighth grade in 38 educational systems; there was no study done for the fourth grade in that year.

==== Eighth grade ====

=== TIMSS 1995 ===
In TIMSS 1995, there were 41 educational systems in five grades (third, fourth, seventh, eighth, and the final year of secondary school).

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

== Additional initiatives ==
The TIMSS 1999 Video Study was a study of eighth-grade mathematics and science teaching in seven countries. The study involved videotaping and analyzing teaching practices in more than one thousand classrooms. In conjunction with the IEA, the study was conducted by the US National Center for Education Statistics, and the US Department of Education under a contract with LessonLab, Inc. of Los Angeles, California.

== Cooperative partners ==
TIMSS depends on the collaboration of a large number of individuals and organizations around the world including the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, IEA's offices in Amsterdam and Hamburg, Statistics Canada, and Educational Testing Service (ETS). In the United States, TIMSS is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics of the US Department of Education. Data for US students is further tracked for ethnic and racial groups. TIMSS is mainly funded by the participating countries. Also, the US National Center for Education Statistics of the US Department of Education and the World Bank provide major support funding for the assessments.

=== United States results by race and ethnicity ===

==== Eighth grade ====

==== Fourth grade ====

== All average country scores ==
TIMSS 1995: 4th grade [1]; 8th grade [2]
TIMSS 1999: 8th grade [3]
TIMSS 2003: 4th grade [4][5]; 8th grade [6][7]
TIMSS 2007: 4th and 8th grades [8][9]
TIMSS 2011: 4th grade [10][11]; 8th grade [12][13]
TIMSS 2015: 4th and 8th grades [14][15]
TIMSS 2019: [16]

== TIMSS and other international math and science studies ==
Hanushek and Woessmann developed a methodology to rescale 14 different international comparisons of math and/or science achievement to make them comparable.  This includes the FIMS, FISS, and PISA, mentioned above, with TIMSS.
This methodology is disputed amongst experts. Quantitative methods used in educational and psychological measurement disagree with the approach as it is basically only a linear scale transformation that cannot ensure or examine whether PISA and TIMSS scores are based on the same or at least comparable measurement constructs: The numerical values used to measure shoe size and intelligence can be transformed so that both have the same arithmetic mean and standard deviation, but they still represent two very different characteristics. The equivalency of what is being measured needs to be established in linking studies that utilize well-designed joint data collections such as the TIMSS NAEP link, or IEA's Rosetta Stone.
Wu (2003, 2010) has shown that TIMSS and PISA do not produce exchangeable scores. One reason may be reading load even for mathematics and science items. TIMSS questions focus on the mathematics curricula taught around the world as seen in TIMSS example items, while PISA attempts to assess mathematics embedded in descriptions of situations encountered outside of the classroom, see PISA examples.

== Participating countries ==

== See also ==
International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement
Numeracy
Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), an educational ranking among OECD nations
Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS)
Scientific literacy

== Notes ==

== References ==
Hanushek, Eric A.; Woessmann, Ludger (2015), The knowledge capital of nations, CESifo, ISBN 978-0-262-02917-9.

== External links ==
IEA's TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College
www.iea.nl: TIMSS. Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study
U.S. Department of Education TIMSS
TIMSS: What Have We Learned about Math and Science Teaching? Archived 2012-02-11 at the Wayback Machine - Education Resources Information Center Clearinghouse for Science Mathematics and Environmental Education, Columbus, Ohio.
Benchmarking to the world's best in mathematics. Quality control in curriculum and instruction among the top performers in the TIMSS