Table of Contents

Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years

 

 

Get Acrobat Reader

 

 

Highlights of results from TIMSS

 

 

TIMSS Order Form

 

 

This page last updated June 8, 1998

 Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years:
IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study

This table of contents does not hyperlink to the actual page listed. It is meant only as a reference to aid in locating specific areas of interest. Click on the Adobe PDF icon to download and view these chapters.

Links for this page:

Executive Summary

Introduction

Chapter 1: International Student Achievement in Mathematics

Chapter 2: Average Achievement in the Mathematics Content Areas

Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Mathematics Content Area

Chapter 4: Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards Mathematics

Chapter 5: Teachers and Instruction

Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures

Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Appendix C: Selected Mathematics Achievement Results for the Philippines

Appendix D: Selected Mathematics Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German Speaking) - Eighth Grade

Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Mathematics Achievement

Appendix F: Acknowlegements

 

Adobe PDF icon Table of Contents (PDF format, includes page numbers)

Adobe PDF icon Executive Summary

Adobe PDF icon Introduction

  • Which Countries Participated?

    Table 1: Countries Participating in TIMSS

    Table 2: Information About the Grades Tested

  • What Was the Nature of the Mathematics Test?
  • How Do Country Characteristics Differ?

    Table 3: Selected Demographic Characteristics of TIMSS Countries

    Table 4: Public Expenditure on Education at Primary and Secondary Levels in TIMSS Countries

    Figure 1: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Curriculum Syllabi

    Figure 2: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Textbooks

    Figure 3: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Examinations

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 1 : International Student Achievement in Mathematics

  • What Are the Overall Differences in Mathematics Achievement?

    Table 1.1: Distributions of Mathematics Achievement - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 1.1: Multiple Comparisons of Mathematics Achievement - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 1.2: Distributions of Mathematics Achievement - Lower Grade
    (Seventh Grade)

    Figure 1.2: Multiple Comparisons of Mathematics Achievement - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

  • What Are the Increases in Achievement Between the Lower and
    Upper Grades?

    Table 1.3: Achievement Differences in Mathematics Between Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)
  • What Are the Differences in Performance Compared to Three Marker Levels of International Mathematics Achievement?

    Table 1.4: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 1.5: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in Mathematics - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

  • What Are the Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement?

    Table 1.6: Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Table 1.7: Gender Differences in Mathematics Achievement - Lower Grade
    (Seventh Grade)

  • What Are the Differences in Median Performance at Age 13?

    Table 1.8: Median Mathematics Achievement: 13-Year-Old Students

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 2 : Average Achievement in the Mathematics Content Areas

  • How Does Achievement Differ Across Mathematics Content Areas?

    Table 2.1: Average Percent Correct by Mathematics Content Areas -
    Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 2.2: Average Percent Correct by Mathematics Content Areas -
    Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

    Table 2.3: Profiles of Relative Performance in Mathematics Content Areas -
    Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

  • What Are the Increases in Achievement Between the Lower and
    Upper Grades?

    Figure 2.1: Difference in Average Percent Correct Between Lower and
    Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades) Overall and in Mathematics
    Content Areas

  • What Are the Gender Differences in Achievement for the
    Content Areas?

    Table 2.4: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Mathematics
    Content Areas - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 2.5: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Mathematics
    Content Areas - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Mathematics
Content Area

  • What Have Students Learned About Fractions and Number Sense?

    Table 3.1: Percent Correct for Fractions and Number Sense Example Items -
    Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.1: International Difficulty Map for Fractions and Number Sense
    Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Fractions and Number Sense Example Items

  • What Have Students Learned About Geometry?

    Table 3.2: Percent Correct for Geometry Example Items - Lower and
    Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.2: International Difficulty Map for Geometry Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Geometry Example Items

  • What Have Students Learned About Algebra?

    Table 3.3: Percent Correct for Algebra Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.3: International Difficulty Map for Algebra Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Algebra Example Items

  • What Have Students Learned About Data Representation, Analysis,
    and Probability?

    Table 3.4: Percent Correct for Data Representation, Analysis, and Probability Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.4: International Difficulty Map for Data Representation, Analysis, and Probability Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Data Representation, Analysis, and Probability Example Items

  • What Have Students Learned About Measurement?

    Table 3.5: Percent Correct for Measurement Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.5: International Difficulty Map for Measurement Example Items -
    Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Measurement Example Items

  • What Have Students Learned About Proportionality?

    Table 3.6: Percent Correct for Proportionality Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Figure 3.6: International Difficulty Map for Proportionality Example Items -
    Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

    Proportionality Example Items

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 4 : Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards Mathematics

  • What Educational Resources Do Students Have in Their Homes?

    Table 4.1: Students' Reports on Educational Aids in the Home: Dictionary, Study Desk/Table, and Computer - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.2: Students' Reports on the Number of Books in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.3: Students' Reports on the Highest Level of Education of Either Parent - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 4.1: Country Modifications to the Definitions of Educational Levels for Parents' Highest Level of Education

  • What Are the Academic Expectations of Students, Their Families, and Their Friends?

    Table 4.4: Students' Reports on Whether They Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.5: Students' Reports on Whether Their Mothers Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.6: Students' Reports on Whether Their Friends Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • How Do Students Spend Their Out-of-School Time During the School Week?

    Table 4.7: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.8: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Leisure Time -
    Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.9: Students' Reports on Total Amount of Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.10: Students' Reports on the Hours Spent Each Day Watching
    Television and Videos - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)     .

  • How Do Students Perceive Success in Mathematics?

    Table 4.11: Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 4.2: Gender Differences In Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.12: Students' Reports on Things Necessary to Do Well in Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.13: Students' Reports on Why They Need to Do Well in Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    What Are Students' Attitudes Towards Mathematics?

    Table 4.14: Students' Reports on How Much They Like Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 4.3: Gender Differences in Liking Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 4.15: Students' Overall Attitudes Towards Mathematics - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 4.4: Gender Differences in Students' Overall Attitudes Towards Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 5 : Teachers and Instruction

  • Who Delivers Mathematics Instruction?

    Table 5.1: Requirements for Certification Held by the Majority of Lower- and Upper-Grade (Seventh- and Eighth-Grade) Teachers

    Table 5.2: Teachers' Reports on Their Age and Gender - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.3: Teachers' Reports on Their Years of Teaching Experience - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • What Are Teachers' Perceptions About Mathematics?

    Figure 5.1: Percentage of Students Whose Mathematics Teachers Agree or Strongly Agree with Statements About the Nature of Mathematics and Mathematics Teaching - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 5.2: Percent of Students Whose Mathematics Teachers Think Particular Abilities Are Very Important for Students' Success in Mathematics in School -
    Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • How Do Mathematics Teachers Spend Their School-Related Time?

    Table 5.4: Teachers' Reports on the Proportion of Their Formally Scheduled School Time Spent Teaching Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.5: Teachers' Reports on Average Number of Hours Mathematics Is Taught Weekly to Their Mathematics Classes - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.6: Average Number of Hours Students' Teachers Spend on Various School-Related Activities Outside the Formal School Day During the School Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.7: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Meet with Other Teachers in Their Subject Area to Discuss and Plan Curriculum or Teaching Approaches - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • How Are Mathematics Classes Organized?

    Table 5.8: Teachers' Reports on Average Size of Mathematics Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 5.3: Teachers' Reports About Classroom Organization During Mathematics Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • What Activities Do Students Do in Their Mathematics Lessons?

    Table 5.9: Teachers' Reports on Their Main Sources of Written Information When Deciding Which Topics to Teach and How to Present a Topic - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Figure 5.4: Teachers' Reports About Using a Textbook in Teaching Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.10: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Ask Students to Practice Computational Skills - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.11: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Ask Students to Do Reasoning Tasks - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.12: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Things from Everyday Life in Solving Mathematics Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • How Are Calculators and Computers Used?

    Table 5.13: Students' Reports on Having a Calculator and Computer in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.14: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Students' Use of Calculators in Mathematics Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.15: Teachers' Reports on Ways in Which Calculators Are Used at Least Once or Twice a Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.16: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Calculators in Mathematics Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.17: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Mathematics Class to Solve Exercises or Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.18: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Mathematics Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

  • How Much Homework Are Students Assigned?

    Table 5.19: Teachers' Reports About the Amount of Mathematics Homework Assigned - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.20: Teachers' Reports on Their Use of Students' Written Mathematics Homework - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade) .

  • What Assessment and Evaluation Procedures Do Teachers Use?

    Table 5.21: Teachers' Reports on the Types of Assessment Given "Quite A Lot" or
    "A Great Deal" of Weight in Assessing Students' Work in Mathematics Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.22: Teachers' Reports on Ways Assessment Information Is Used
    "Quite A Lot" or "A Great Deal" - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

    Table 5.23: Students' Reports on Frequency of Having a Quiz or Test in Their Mathematics Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures: Mathematics
Achievement Results for Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students

  • History

  • The Components of TIMSS

    Figure A.1: Countries Participating in Additional Components of
    TIMSS Testing

  • Developing the TIMSS Mathematics Test

    Figure A.2: The Three Aspects and Major Categories of the Mathematics Framework
    Table A.1: Distribution of Mathematics Items by Content Reporting Category
    and Performance Category

  • TIMSS Test Design

  • Sample Implementation and Participation Rates

    Table A.2: Coverage of TIMSS Target Population

    Table A.3: Coverage of 13-Year-Old Students

    Table A.4: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Table A.5: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Upper Grade
    (Eighth Grade)

    Table A.6: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Lower Grade
    (Seventh Grade)     .

    Table A.7: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Lower Grade
    (Seventh Grade)

    Table A.8: Overall Participation Rates - Upper and Lower Grades
    (Eighth and Seventh Grades)

  • Indicating Compliance with Sampling Guidelines in the Report

    Figure A.3: Countries Grouped for Reporting of Achievement According to Their Compliance with Guidelines for Sample Implementation and Participation Rates

  • Data Collection

  • Scoring the Free-Response Items

    Table A.9: TIMSS Within-Country Free-Response Coding Reliability Data
    for Population 2 Mathematics Items

    Table A.10: Percent Exact Agreement for Coding of Mathematics Items for International and Within-Country Reliability Studies

  • Test Reliability

    Table A.11: Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Coefficients - TIMSS Mathematics
    Test - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

  • Data Processing

  • IRT Scaling and Data Analysis

  • Estimating Sampling Error

Adobe PDF icon Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Table B.1: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Mathematics -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.2: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Mathematics -
Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table B.3: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Mathematics - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.4: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Mathematics - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix C: Selected Mathematics Achievement Results for
The Philippines

Table C.1: Philippines - Selected Mathematics Achievement Results -
Unweighted Data

Adobe PDF icon Appendix D: Selected Mathematics Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German-Speaking)–Eighth Grade

Table D.1: Denmark - Selected Mathematics Achievement Results

Table D.2: Sweden - Selected Mathematics Achievement Results

Table D.3: Switzerland (German-Speaking) - Selected Mathematics
Achievement Results

Adobe PDF icon Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Mathematics Achievement

Table E.1: Percentiles of Achievement in Mathematics - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table E.2: Percentiles of Achievement in Mathematics - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table E.3: Standard Deviations of Achievement in Mathematics -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table E.4: Standard Deviations of Achievement in Mathematics -
Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix F: Acknowledgments

© 1996 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study / by Albert E. Beaton, Ina V.S. Mullis, Michael O. Martin, Eugenio J. Gonzalez, Dana L. Kelly, and Teresa A. Smith

Publisher: Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy,
Boston College.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-71251

ISBN 1-889938-02-5

For more information about TIMSS contact:

TIMSS International Study Center
Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy
Campion Hall
School of Education
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA 02167
United States

For information on ordering this report, write the above address
or call +1-617-552-4521.

Funding for the international coordination of TIMSS is provided by the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the IEA, and the Canadian government. Each participating country provides funding for the national implementation of TIMSS.

HomePage | Publications | News | About TIMSS | Benchmarking | Index