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Digest of Education Statistics
2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 396. Average size and scores of eighth-grade mathematics classes and Index of Teachers' Emphasis on Mathematics Homework (EMH), by country: 2003
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                            |           | Percentage distribution and mean scores of mathematics classes, by average class size | Index of Teachers' Emphasis on Mathematics Homework (EMH)\1\
                            |           |_______________________________ ___________________________________________ ___________|_____________________________________________________________
                            |    Overall|   1 to 24 students  |  25 to 32 students  |  33 to 40 students  | 41 or more students |        High EMH\2\    |   Medium EMH\3\  |    Low EMH\4\
                            |    average|_____________________|_____________________|_____________________|_____________________|_______________________|__________________|__________________
Country                     | class size|  Percent| Mean score|  Percent| Mean score|  Percent| Mean score|  Percent| Mean score|     Percent|Mean score|Percent|Mean score|Percent|Mean score
____________________________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|____________|__________|_______|__________|_______|__________
1                           |          2|        3|          4|        5|          6|        7|          8|        9|         10|          11|        12|     13|        14|     15|        16
____________________________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|____________|__________|_______|__________|_______|__________
   International average ...|    30(0.1)| 29 (0.5)|461   (1.9)| 35 (0.5)|473   (1.4)| 24 (0.5)|470   (2.1)| 13 (0.3)|448   (1.7)|    30 (0.5)|473  (1.4)|51(0.6)|469  (0.9)|19(0.4)|453  (1.7)
                            |___________|_________|__________ |_________|__________ |_________|__________ |_________|___ ______ |____________|_________ |_______|__________|_______|__________
Armenia ....................|\5\ 27(0.9)| 39 (4.4)|474   (5.6)| 43 (4.3)|485   (5.0)|  7 (1.8)|460   (9.9)| 11 (2.8)|462   (8.4)|\6\ 65 (4.6)|481  (4.2)|31(4.7)|474  (6.6)| 4(2.1)|467 (11.5)
Australia ..................|    26(0.5)| 31 (4.2)|482   (9.4)| 65 (4.7)|518   (5.9)|  4 (2.2)|492  (14.2)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    10 (3.0)|544 (19.7)|56(4.1)|518  (5.9)|34(3.8)|475  (9.5)
Bahrain ....................|    32(0.1)|  6 (0.7)|451   (5.8)| 52 (2.7)|402   (2.1)| 40 (2.6)|395   (3.5)|  3 (0.0)|412   (3.8)|    15 (2.5)|389  (6.1)|72(3.7)|404  (2.3)|14(3.1)|396  (8.7)
Belgium (Flemish) ..........|    20(0.3)| 90 (2.3)|538   (3.3)| 10 (2.3)|553  (10.5)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |     9 (2.5)|555  (6.5)|30(3.8)|555  (5.8)|60(3.9)|529  (5.6)
Botswana ...................|    37(0.4)|  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) | 14 (2.6)|392   (9.1)| 60 (4.3)|360   (3.7)| 25 (4.1)|362   (4.1)|    44 (4.6)|364  (4.0)|49(4.5)|368  (4.0)| 7(2.5)|379  (7.0)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Bulgaria ...................|    22(0.5)| 64 (4.2)|468   (4.9)| 32 (3.9)|503   (8.0)|  3 (2.4)|423   (5.0)|  1 (0.0)| ‡     (†) |    53 (4.2)|483  (6.1)|38(4.2)|467  (7.7)| 9(2.5)|469 (15.6)
Chile ......................|    35(0.4)|  9 (1.5)|385  (17.0)| 22 (2.6)|384   (8.1)| 47 (3.6)|390   (5.7)| 23 (3.0)|389   (6.9)|    10 (2.2)|401 (14.9)|49(3.6)|388  (5.1)|40(3.3)|383  (5.5)
Chinese Taipei .............|    37(0.4)|  4 (1.5)|598  (28.9)| 14 (2.8)|567  (11.5)| 65 (4.0)|575   (4.7)| 17 (3.2)|636   (8.7)|    29 (3.9)|602  (8.6)|39(3.9)|588  (6.3)|32(3.9)|570  (7.6)
Cyprus .....................|    26(0.1)| 21 (1.9)|463   (3.2)| 79 (1.9)|460   (2.0)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    35 (3.1)|455  (3.2)|65(3.1)|462  (2.3)|#      | ‡    (†)
Egypt ......................|    38(0.6)|  3 (1.2)|422  (13.8)|  9 (2.1)|428  (11.3)| 61 (4.1)|403   (4.3)| 27 (3.7)|407   (7.5)|    23 (3.3)|401  (8.6)|57(3.8)|409  (4.8)|20(3.2)|406  (8.1)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
England\7\ .................|\8\ ‡  (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) |\6\ ‡   (†) | ‡    (†) |‡  (†) | ‡    (†) |‡  (†) | ‡    (†)
Estonia ....................|    27(0.5)| 32 (3.4)|523   (5.1)| 41 (4.2)|530   (4.3)| 27 (3.8)|550   (5.4)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    12 (2.3)|540  (9.9)|78(3.2)|532  (3.3)| 9(2.5)|518 (14.1)
Ghana ......................|\5\ 37(1.0)| 16 (2.7)|232   (7.4)| 18 (3.1)|249   (8.9)| 29 (4.0)|292   (9.0)| 37 (4.7)|289   (9.1)|    48 (5.0)|271  (7.9)|37(5.0)|275  (7.1)|15(3.0)|284 (10.2)
Hong Kong, SAR\9,10\ .......|    39(0.3)|  3 (1.1)|504  (28.1)|  6 (1.6)|513  (21.3)| 49 (4.1)|575   (5.7)| 43 (4.1)|612   (4.7)|    26 (3.7)|598  (6.0)|50(4.6)|593  (6.0)|24(4.0)|566 (10.0)
Hungary ....................|    22(0.4)| 64 (3.9)|522   (4.2)| 35 (4.0)|540   (6.5)|  2 (0.9)| ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |     8 (2.0)|532  (8.9)|90(2.2)|530  (3.5)| 2(0.9)| ‡    (†)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Indonesia\11\ ..............|    40(0.5)|  3 (1.7)|413   (8.6)| 10 (2.8)|366  (20.0)| 38 (4.1)|413   (8.3)| 48 (4.3)|421   (6.7)|    45 (3.9)|421  (7.4)|45(4.4)|402  (9.4)|10(2.6)|412 (15.3)
Iran, Islamic Republic .....|    29(0.4)| 23 (2.9)|397   (5.7)| 50 (4.0)|413   (4.5)| 25 (3.3)|420   (6.0)|  3 (1.4)|431  (13.7)|    63 (4.4)|417  (3.2)|26(4.0)|406  (7.2)|12(2.8)|399  (9.3)
Israel\12\ .................|\5\ 34(0.4)|  9 (2.2)|512  (18.3)| 23 (3.7)|500   (9.2)| 64 (4.5)|490   (4.9)|  4 (1.7)|531   (4.5)|    50 (3.8)|501  (5.4)|44(4.1)|500  (6.1)| 6(1.7)|438 (17.8)
Italy ......................|    22(0.3)| 78 (3.1)|483   (3.4)| 22 (3.1)|488   (8.3)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    71 (3.5)|482  (3.2)|25(3.2)|489  (8.4)| 4(1.5)|480 (11.2)
Japan ......................|    35(0.2)|  3 (1.2)|561   (6.1)| 18 (2.6)|557   (4.5)| 78 (2.6)|571   (2.7)|  1 (1.0)| ‡     (†) |     7 (2.2)|583 (23.4)|29(3.8)|573  (6.9)|64(3.9)|567  (2.5)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Jordan .....................|    35(0.7)| 14 (2.8)|430   (9.4)| 26 (3.6)|424  (13.3)| 32 (4.4)|417   (5.9)| 28 (3.8)|428   (7.4)|    30 (3.8)|422  (5.5)|55(4.4)|430  (6.3)|14(2.8)|410  (8.6)
Korea, Republic of\13\ .....|\8\ 37(0.4)|  1 (0.9)| ‡     (†) | 20 (3.0)|569   (4.6)| 57 (4.6)|594   (2.9)| 22 (3.5)|600   (7.0)|\14\ 9 (2.1)|582 (10.8)|31(3.6)|589  (4.7)|60(3.5)|591  (3.5)
Latvia .....................|    24(0.7)| 52 (3.5)|497   (4.4)| 42 (3.4)|519   (5.5)|  3 (1.0)|527  (20.3)|  3 (1.7)|506  (12.6)|    17 (2.9)|523  (8.8)|75(3.8)|505  (3.5)| 9(2.6)|500 (11.7)
Lebanon ....................|    29(0.9)| 32 (3.9)|429   (6.0)| 44 (4.8)|429   (5.1)| 16 (3.1)|443  (10.4)|  8 (3.1)|464   (8.7)|    49 (4.6)|433  (4.6)|45(4.4)|436  (5.8)| 6(1.9)|401 (13.1)
Lithuania\12\ ..............|    25(0.3)| 39 (3.2)|486   (4.2)| 61 (3.2)|510   (3.0)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    13 (2.7)|512  (7.7)|76(3.6)|501  (3.4)|11(2.6)|477 (11.3)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Macedonia, Republic of\12\ .|    28(0.4)| 24 (3.5)|439   (9.2)| 58 (4.3)|435   (5.9)| 17 (3.6)|429  (13.7)|  1 (1.0)| ‡     (†) |    22 (3.3)|450  (8.1)|66(3.9)|428  (5.2)|12(2.6)|432 (13.8)
Malaysia ...................|    37(0.4)|  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) | 18 (3.3)|514  (11.0)| 56 (4.4)|503   (5.1)| 25 (3.5)|515   (8.8)|    60 (4.5)|508  (5.0)|34(4.2)|515  (8.5)| 5(1.9)|466 (10.1)
Moldova ....................|\5\ 24(0.5)| 56 (4.5)|449   (6.0)| 38 (4.6)|460   (7.0)|  5 (2.5)|485  (25.2)|  1 (0.6)| ‡     (†) |\6\ 43 (4.8)|451  (6.1)|52(5.0)|463  (7.9)| 5(1.9)|468 (10.1)
Morocco\11,15\ .............|    ‡  (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) |  ‡  (†) | ‡     (†) | ‡       | ‡     (†) | ‡   (†) | ‡     (†) |\14\54 (6.2)|391  (5.9)|37(6.4)|383  (5.2)| 9(4.1)|389 (11.1)
Netherlands\9\ .............|    26(0.3)| 33 (3.9)|514   (9.4)| 66 (4.1)|546   (5.8)|  1 (1.0)| ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡     (†) |     7 (2.4)|550 (15.3)|82(3.7)|541  (4.9)|11(3.1)|495 (14.1)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
New Zealand ................|    27(0.4)| 22 (3.0)|469   (8.9)| 72 (4.1)|500   (5.7)|  6 (3.2)|538  (17.8)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) |     7 (2.1)|479 (15.6)|67(4.1)|510  (6.6)|25(4.2)|471  (5.3)
Norway .....................|    25(0.3)| 34 (3.8)|467   (4.3)| 65 (3.6)|460   (3.5)|  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) |  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) |    25 (3.4)|460  (6.5)|46(4.3)|465  (3.8)|29(4.3)|455  (5.0)
Palestinian National        |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
   Authority ...............|    39(0.6)|  6 (2.0)|398  (20.0)| 17 (2.8)|393   (7.4)| 27 (3.9)|394   (8.9)| 50 (3.7)|385   (4.2)|    30 (4.0)|389  (6.4)|58(4.3)|391  (4.6)|12(2.5)|388 (14.9)
Philippines ................|    54(0.7)|  1 (0.6)| ‡     (†) |  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) |  7 (2.0)|448  (23.4)| 91 (2.1)|372   (5.4)|    24 (4.0)|358 (10.9)|61(4.8)|384  (7.1)|15(3.7)|377 (19.1)
Romania ....................|    24(0.5)| 51 (4.5)|469   (6.7)| 46 (4.5)|480   (7.4)|  3 (1.4)|534  (34.7)|  1 (0.0)| ‡     (†) |    78 (3.3)|478  (5.5)|21(3.3)|463 (10.1)| 1(0.7)| ‡    (†)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Russian Federation .........|    24(0.6)| 47 (4.2)|500   (5.1)| 47 (3.6)|515   (5.0)|  6 (3.4)|533  (11.0)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    56 (3.5)|514  (4.3)|43(3.5)|499  (4.7)| 1(0.5)| ‡    (†)
Saudi Arabia ...............|    28(0.9)| 36 (5.3)|333   (7.5)| 26 (4.8)|340   (8.1)| 29 (5.8)|330   (5.6)|  8 (3.0)|325   (4.1)|    14 (3.0)|331  (8.9)|69(3.9)|332  (4.6)|17(3.0)|346 (15.0)
Scotland\9\ ................|\5\ 27(0.5)| 33 (3.9)|457   (7.2)| 56 (4.4)|520   (6.2)| 11 (3.4)|548  (10.1)|  1 (0.7)| ‡     (†) |     3 (1.7)|549 (10.6)|45(4.6)|527  (5.7)|51(4.5)|477  (6.2)
Serbia\11\ .................|    26(0.4)| 38 (3.7)|464   (4.4)| 51 (4.0)|483   (3.8)| 11 (2.9)|489   (8.2)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) |    34 (4.1)|474  (4.9)|45(4.3)|481  (4.5)|22(3.7)|470  (5.6)
Singapore ..................|    38(0.2)|  2 (0.6)| ‡     (†) |  8 (1.6)|613  (18.0)| 63 (2.7)|606   (5.0)| 26 (2.5)|607   (5.7)|    59 (2.4)|620  (4.2)|33(2.5)|592  (6.6)| 8(1.3)|563 (13.1)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
Slovak Republic ............|    25(0.4)| 42 (4.6)|498   (4.7)| 53 (4.7)|512   (5.4)|  5 (1.8)|543  (19.7)| #   (†) | ‡         |     5 (1.5)|510 (12.4)|79(2.9)|511  (4.0)|16(2.7)|492  (6.3)
Slovenia ...................|    22(0.3)| 70 (4.1)|491   (3.0)| 30 (4.1)|500   (4.1)| #   (†) | ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡         |    13 (2.9)|490  (9.2)|85(3.1)|495  (2.5)| 3(1.0)|473  (9.7)
South Africa ...............|\8\ 45(1.3)|  4 (1.2)|309  (35.8)| 14 (3.0)|290  (23.8)| 30 (3.7)|265  (11.7)| 52 (4.1)|249   (8.7)|\6\ 26 (3.4)|266  (9.2)|54(3.9)|267  (9.6)|20(3.3)|250  (9.1)
Sweden .....................|    21(0.4)| 71 (3.6)|491   (3.3)| 27 (3.7)|522   (5.5)|  1 (1.0)| ‡     (†) | #   (†) | ‡         |    17 (2.8)|503  (7.0)|25(3.2)|506  (6.0)|59(3.7)|494  (4.0)
Tunisia ....................|    34(0.3)|  1 (1.0)| ‡     (†) | 26 (3.3)|404   (3.6)| 71 (3.5)|412   (3.2)|  2 (1.1)| ‡         |    12 (2.5)|423  (9.1)|84(3.0)|407  (2.2)| 4(1.6)|442 (11.3)
                            |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |         |           |            |          |       |          |       |
United States\15\ ..........|\5\ 24(0.4)| 56 (2.9)|504   (3.9)| 39 (2.7)|510   (5.1)|  4 (1.2)|531  (16.4)|  1 (0.7)| ‡         |    27 (2.5)|531  (8.0)|62(2.9)|504  (3.8)|11(2.2)|471  (9.5)
____________________________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|_________|___________|____________|__________|_______|__________|_______|__________
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
‡Reporting standards not met.
\1\Index based on teachers' responses to two questions about how often they usually assign mathematics homework and how many minutes of mathematics homework they usually assign.
\2\High EMH indicates the assignment of more than 30 minutes of homework in about half of the lessons or more.
\3\Medium level includes all possible combinations of responses not included in the high or low level categories (see below for details on the low level).
\4\Low level indicates no assignment or the assignment of less than 30 minutes of homework in about half the lessons or less.
\5\Class size data available for at least 70 but less than 85 percent of students, with missing data having not been explicitly accounted for in the analysis.
\6\EMH data available for at least 70 but less than 85 percent of students, with missing data having not been explicitly accounted for in the analysis.
\7\Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates.
\8\Class size data available for at least 50 but less than 70 percent of students, with missing data having not been explicitly accounted for in the analysis.
\9\Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
\10\SAR=Special Administrative Region.
\11\National Desired Population does not cover all of International Desired Population.
\12\National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of National Desired Population.
\13\Korea tested the same cohort of students as other countries, but later in 2003, at the beginning of the next school year.
\14\EMH data available for at least 50 but less than 70 percent of students, with missing data having not been explicitly accounted for in the analysis.
\15\Nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
NOTE: Background data provided by teachers. Data are for 8th grade or equivalent in most countries. Possible scores range from 0 to 1000. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2003, TIMSS 2003 International Mathematics Report, by Ina V. S. Mullis et al. (This table was prepared April 2005.)


2005 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest