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Digest of Education Statistics
2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 402. Average size of 8th-grade mathematics classes, and frequency teachers assign mathematics homework, by country: 1999

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                         |         |  Percent distribution of    |  Percent of students, by frequency and average length of
                         |Overall  |  mathematics classes, by    |                    mathematics assignments
                         |average  |     average size            |______________________________________________________________
         Country         | class   |                             |        |   Assigning     |  Assigning      |  Assigning
                         | size    |_____________________________|        | homework less   |homework once or | homework 3 or
                         |         |         |         |         | Never  |than once a week | twice a week    |more times a week
                         |         |1 to 20  |21 to 35 | 36 or   | assig- |_________________|_________________|_________________
                         |         |students |students |  more   | ning   |   30   | More   |   30   | More   |   30   | More
                         |         |         |         |students |homework|minutes |than 30 |minutes |than 30 |minutes |than 30
                         |         |         |         |         |        |or less |minutes |or less |minutes |or less |minutes
_________________________|_________|_________|_________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
            1            |    2    |    3    |   4     |    5    |   6    |   7    |   8    |   9    |   10   |   11   |  12
_________________________|_________|_________|_________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________
Australia ...............| 27 (0.3)|  9 (2.4)| 91 (2.4)|  0 (0.0)| 1 (0.6)| 2 (1.1)| 1 (0.9)|25 (3.6)| 6 (2.0)|60 (3.9)| 6 (2.0)
Belgium (Flemish) .......| 19 (0.4)| 58 (3.5)| 42 (3.5)|  0 (0.0)| 5 (3.2)|18 (3.3)| 3 (1.2)|48 (4.9)| 9 (2.0)|15 (2.7)| 2 (0.9)
Bulgaria ................| 22 (0.6)| 35 (4.4)| 63 (4.8)|  2 (1.3)| 1 (1.0)| 1 (0.6)| 1 (0.5)|16 (3.5)| 6 (1.7)|31 (4.5)|44 (5.6)
Canada ..................| 27 (0.3)| 11 (2.1)| 87 (2.3)|  2 (1.0)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.7)| 0 (0.0)|22 (2.8)| 3 (1.5)|58 (3.5)|16 (2.6)
Chile ...................| 34 (0.6)|  6 (1.5)| 48 (4.3)| 46 (4.1)| 4 (1.7)|19 (2.9)| 2 (1.0)|39 (3.9)|13 (2.8)|16 (2.6)| 7 (2.2)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Chinese Taipei ..........| 39 (0.5)|  0 (0.0)| 14 (2.9)| 86 (3.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.1)| 2 (1.1)|27 (3.4)|23 (3.4)|21 (3.1)|25 (3.6)
Cyprus\1\ ...............| 29 (0.2)|  0 (0.2)|100 (0.2)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (0.1)| 0 (0.0)|55 (5.1)|44 (4.9)
Czech Republic\1\ .......| 24 (0.4)| 18 (4.2)| 82 (4.2)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)|13 (3.8)| 0 (0.0)|69 (5.1)| 2 (1.3)|15 (3.7)| 0 (0.2)
England .................|---  --- |---  --- |---  --- |---  --- | 0 (0.0)| 2 (0.8)| 1 (0.3)|48 (3.9)|46 (4.1)| 3 (1.4)| 1 (0.6)
Finland ................ | 19 (0.3)| 66 (3.7)| 34 (3.7)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)|11 (2.2)| 1 (0.8)|79 (3.0)| 9 (2.3)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Hong Kong, SAR ..........| 37 (0.5)|  7 (1.8)| 15 (3.0)| 78 (3.4)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.2)| 1 (0.0)|26 (3.1)|23 (3.7)|30 (4.0)|19 (3.1)
Hungary .................| 21 (0.5)| 48 (4.2)| 51 (4.1)|  1 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.0)| 1 (0.0)|81 (2.9)|17 (3.0)
Indonesia\1\ ............| 45 (0.9)|  1 (0.3)| 10 (2.3)| 89 (2.4)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.8)|15 (3.2)|25 (4.2)|23 (4.1)|36 (4.2)
Iran, Islamic Republic\2\| 33 (0.5)|  5 (1.6)| 57 (4.2)| 38 (4.2)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.0)| 2 (0.9)| 6 (1.9)|67 (4.5)| 2 (1.5)|23 (4.0)
Israel\1\ ...............| 26 (0.7)| 31 (3.2)| 50 (4.0)| 19 (3.3)| 1 (0.9)| 1 (0.5)| 1 (0.3)| 6 (1.8)| 2 (1.0)|35 (3.6)|53 (3.4)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Italy ...................| 20 (0.3)| 55 (3.9)| 44 (3.9)|  1 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 5 (1.7)|12 (2.5)|15 (2.6)|68 (3.8)
Japan ...................| 36 (0.2)|  1 (0.0)| 41 (3.4)| 58 (3.3)| 9 (2.3)|34 (4.3)| 6 (2.0)|27 (4.0)| 8 (2.1)|14 (2.7)| 3 (1.4)
Jordan ..................| 36 (0.7)|  4 (1.3)| 43 (3.4)| 53 (3.2)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 8 (2.4)| 4 (1.2)|61 (4.0)|28 (3.7)
Korea, Republic of ......| 42 (0.5)|  0 (0.0)| 12 (2.2)| 88 (2.2)| 2 (0.7)|14 (2.6)| 6 (2.0)|29 (3.4)|15 (2.7)|24 (3.3)| 9 (2.3)
Latvia (Latvian-         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
 speaking schools)\1\ ...| 22 (0.5)| 45 (4.2)| 55 (4.2)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.4)| 0 (0.0)| 7 (2.5)| 1 (0.9)|70 (3.9)|20 (3.7)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Lithuania ...............| 23 (0.3)| 32 (2.8)| 68 (2.8)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.5)| 1 (0.6)|73 (4.0)|24 (3.6)
Macedonia, Republic of ..| 28 (0.4)| 10 (2.5)| 84 (3.4)|  6 (2.2)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.6)| 0 (0.0)|16 (3.1)| 4 (1.7)|44 (4.3)|36 (4.4)
Malaysia ................| 38 (0.6)|  1 (0.0)| 26 (3.7)| 73 (3.6)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 3 (1.5)| 6 (2.0)|24 (3.5)|66 (3.9)
Moldova\1\ ..............| 26 (0.4)| 15 (3.0)| 83 (3.3)|  2 (1.6)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.3)| 2 (1.2)| 4 (2.1)|38 (4.3)|54 (4.2)
Morocco\1\ ..............| 33 (0.8)| 12 (2.4)| 49 (3.4)| 39 (3.6)| 1 (0.4)|11 (1.8)|40 (3.5)| 8 (1.5)| 9 (2.1)|21 (2.6)|11 (1.9)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Netherlands\1\ ..........| 25 (0.5)| 13 (4.1)| 87 (4.1)|  0 (0.0)| 1 (0.6)| 1 (0.6)| 0 (0.0)|13 (3.3)| 3 (1.3)|73 (4.4)| 9 (2.6)
New Zealand .............| 25 (0.4)| 17 (2.9)| 82 (2.8)|  1 (0.0)| 1 (0.8)| 2 (1.1)| 0 (0.0)|32 (3.5)| 3 (1.2)|58 (3.9)| 2 (1.4)
Philippines\1\ ..........| 50 (0.6)|  0 (0.0)|  5 (1.5)| 95 (1.5)| 0 (0.0)| 2 (1.1)| 0 (0.0)|10 (2.6)| 0 (0.0)|74 (3.2)|14 (3.0)
Romania .................| 24 (0.4)| 30 (2.9)| 65 (3.2)|  5 (1.9)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 1 (0.5)| 1 (1.0)| 4 (1.2)|21 (3.7)|73 (3.9)
Russian Federation ......| 24 (0.5)| 19 (3.2)| 81 (3.2)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.5)| 0 (0.0)|42 (4.5)|57 (4.6)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Singapore ...............| 37 (0.3)|  1 (0.4)| 32 (3.8)| 68 (3.8)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 8 (2.1)|12 (2.4)|26 (4.2)|54 (4.3)
Slovak Republic ........ | 25 (0.4)| 15 (2.6)| 85 (2.6)|  0 (0.2)| 1 (0.0)| 3 (1.8)| 0 (0.0)|12 (3.2)| 1 (0.0)|81 (3.5)| 2 (1.5)
Slovenia ................| 22 (0.3)| 29 (3.2)| 71 (3.2)|  0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 3 (1.5)| 0 (0.0)|79 (3.1)|17 (2.8)
South Africa\1\ .........| 50 (1.4)|  2 (0.8)| 14 (2.6)| 85 (2.7)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)|10 (2.6)| 4 (1.4)|64 (4.1)|22 (3.2)
Thailand\1\ .............| 42 (0.9)|  3 (1.0)| 23 (3.9)| 75 (3.7)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 0 (0.0)| 4 (1.5)|16 (3.3)|23 (3.6)|57 (4.4)
                         |         |         |         |         |        |        |        |        |        |        |
Tunisia .................| 34 (0.4)|  3 (1.5)| 56 (3.9)| 42 (4.1)| 2 (1.3)| 3 (1.5)|26 (3.6)| 3 (1.2)| 8 (2.3)|35 (4.2)|24 (3.9)
Turkey\3\ ...............| 43 (1.3)|  2 (1.1)| 28 (3.9)| 70 (3.9)| 0 (0.0)| 4 (1.4)| 0 (0.3)|35 (4.1)|39 (4.3)|10 (2.4)|12 (2.4)
United States\1\ ........| 26 (0.7)| 21 (2.6)| 73 (3.0)|  6 (1.4)| 1 (0.7)| 1 (0.7)| 0 (0.0)| 7 (1.6)| 1 (0.6)|63 (2.8)|27 (2.4)
_________________________|_________|_________|_________|_________|________|________|________|________|________|________|________

---Not available.
\1\Teacher response data on class size available for 70 to 84 percent of students.
\2\Teacher response data on mathematics assignments available for 50 to 69 percent of students.
\3\Teacher response data on class size available for 50 to 69 percent of students.
SAR=Special Administrative Region.

NOTE: Data are for 8th grade or equivalent in most countries. Detail may not sum to totals due to rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 1999, TIMSS 1999 International Mathematics Report, by Ina V.S. Mullis et al. Copyright @ 2000 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). (This table was prepared May 2001.)


2002 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest