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Digest of Education Statistics
1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest

Table 398. -  Instructional practices and time spent teaching mathematics in 8th-grade, by country: 1994-95
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                     |Percent of students whose teachers report using each organizational    |Average number of hours mathematics is taught weekly
                     |approach "most or every lesson"                                        |to mathematics classes
       Country       |_______________________________________________________________________|____________________________________________________________________________________
                     |Work to-   |Work to-   |Work indi- |Work indi-|Work in    |Work in     |Less than 2 hours     |At least 2 to       |At least 3.5, but   |5 hours or more
                     |gether as  |gether as  |vidually   |vidually  |pairs or   |pairs or    |                      |less than 3.5 hours |less than 5 hours   |
                     |a class and|a class and|with assis-|without   |groups with|groups with-|______________________|____________________|____________________|___________________
                     |students   |teacher    |tance from |assis-    |assis-     |out assis-  |Percent    |Mean      |Percent  |Mean      |Percent |Mean       |Percent |Mean
                     |respond to |teaches    |teacher    |tance from|tance from |tance from  |           |score     |         |score     |        |score      |        |score
                     |one another|whole class|           |teacher   |teacher    |teacher     |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
_____________________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|____________|___________|__________|_________|__________|________|___________|________|__________
          1          |   2       |   3       |   4       |   5      |   6       |    7       |    8      | 9        | 10      | 11       |12      | 13        |14      | 15
_____________________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|____________|___________|__________|_________|__________|________|___________|________|__________
Australia\1\ ........|\2\     14 |\2\     46 |\2\     64 |\2\    27 |\2\     25 |\2\       9 |\2\ 5 (1.7)|528 (19.5)| 50 (3.7)|518  (6.2)|44 (3.7)|552  (7.6) | 1 (0.7)|---   ---
Austria\1\ ..........|\2\      6 |\2\     52 |\2\     51 |\2\    23 |\2\     19 |\2\       7 |\2\ 0 (0.0)|---   --- | 99 (0.1)|549  (4.1)| 1 (0.1)|---    --- | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
Belgium (Flemish) ...|        10 |        59 |        57 |       36 |         6 |          5 |\3\ 0 (0.0)|---   --- | 50 (4.4)|572  (5.6)|50 (4.4)|603  (5.4) | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
Belgium (French)\1\..|\3\      7 |\3\     38 |\3\     55 |\3\    29 |\3\     11 |\3\       5 |\3\ 0 (0.0)|---   --- |  3 (1.8)|486 (12.9)|83 (4.2)|544  (4.7) |14 (3.8)|564 (10.0)
Bulgaria\1\ .........|        ---|        ---|        ---|       ---|        ---|         ---|   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
Canada ..............|\2\     12 |        37 |        57 |\2\    25 |\2\     28 |\2\      14 |    3 (1.2)|528 (11.8)| 31 (3.8)|521  (5.0)|50 (3.6)|537  (4.3) |17 (3.1)|520 (10.2)
Colombia\1\ .........|        25 |        41 |        55 |\2\    19 |        44 |\2\      22 |\2\ 4 (2.0)|389  (8.2)| 25 (5.5)|367  (8.8)|58 (5.4)|397  (3.9) |13 (3.3)|390  (8.2)
Cyprus ..............|\2\     13 |\2\     61 |\2\     73 |\2\    23 |\2\     26 |\2\       9 |   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |    --- |---   ---
Czech Republic ......|         5 |        47 |        72 |       42 |        13 |          8 |    1 (0.9)|---   --- |  6 (2.0)|587 (17.2)|90 (2.7)|561  (5.1) | 3 (1.6)|535 (10.2)
Denmark\1\ ..........|         5 |        41 |        74 |       16 |        18 |          4 |   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
England\1\ ..........|\3\     19 |\3\     46 |\3\     57 |\3\    25 |\3\     14 |\3\       8 |   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
France ..............|        11 |        48 |        56 |       26 |        17 |          4 |\2\ 2 (1.4)|---   --- | 10 (3.2)|532 (13.4)|87 (3.3)|539  (3.9) | 2 (1.3)|---   ---
Germany\1\ ..........|\3\     23 |\3\     70 |\3\     54 |\3\    15 |\3\     20 |\3\       9 |\3\ 2 (1.5)|---   --- | 85 (3.1)|523  (5.3)|12 (2.9)|463 (13.3) | 1 (0.9)|---   ---
Greece\1\ ...........|         4 |        58 |        60 |       18 |        14 |          3 |    4 (1.7)|459 (10.8)| 88 (2.8)|486  (3.5)| 3 (1.6)|459 (12.3) | 4 (1.6)|480  (8.9)
Hong Kong ...........|        11 |        37 |        62 |       17 |         9 |          4 |    5 (2.4)|612 (47.4)| 26 (5.2)|590 (19.5)|63 (5.8)|590  (7.6) | 6 (2.9)|567 (30.1)
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
Hungary .............|        11 |        60 |        65 |       22 |         7 |          1 |    0 (0.0)|---   --- | 75 (3.6)|538  (3.9)|23 (3.6)|536  (7.0) | 1 (1.0)|---   ---
Iceland .............|\2\      2 |\2\     39 |\2\     82 |\2\    38 |\2\     32 |\2\      17 |\2\ 0 (0.0)|---   --- | 90 (2.9)|492  (5.3)| 8 (2.9)|467  (3.5) | 1 (0.2)|---   ---
Iran, Islamic        |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
  Republic ..........|        33 |        66 |        55 |        8 |        42 |         10 |   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
Ireland .............|\2\      7 |        67 |        47 |       37 |\2\      9 |\2\       6 |\2\ 1 (0.7)|---   --- | 86 (3.7)|524 (6.4) |12 (3.4)|555  (15.2)| 1 (1.1)|---   ---
Israel\1\ ...........|\2\     70 |\2\     65 |\2\     35 |\2\    68 |\2\     51 |\2\      62 |\2\ 6 (4.1)|523 (13.7)| 41 (8.0)|520 (12.7)|47 (8.1)|514  (9.2) | 6 (3.7)|579 (22.6)
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
Japan ...............|        22 |        78 |        27 |       15 |         7 |          1 |    4 (1.8)|607 (24.3)| 91 (2.3)|602  (2.7)| 4 (1.4)|649 (18.5) | 0 (0.5)|---   ---
Korea ...............|        39 |        89 |        41 |       30 |        12 |         11 |    1 (0.7)|---   --- | 90 (3.0)|610  (2.8)| 5 (1.8)|608 (13.8) | 5 (2.3)|604 (19.5)
Kuwait\1\ ...........|         3 |        34 |        48 |       14 |         7 |          5 |    2 (1.6)|---   --- | 21 (6.5)|396  (6.8)|76 (6.6)|391  (2.3) | 1 (1.0)|---   ---
Latvia (Latvian-     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
 speaking schools)\1\|        24 |        86 |        90 |\2\    55 |        28 |\2\      11 |    1 (0.5)|---   --- | 30 (4.8)|491  (5.8)|62 (5.3)|492  (4.3) | 8 (2.6)|489 (15.0)
Lithuania\1\ ........|        10 |        55 |        72 |       25 |        32 |         10 |    1 (0.8)|---   --- | 61 (4.1)|482  (5.0)|29 (3.9)|481  (7.5) | 9 (2.3)|448 (13.8)
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
Netherlands\1\ ......|         7 |        56 |        65 |       38 |        49 |         34 |    3 (1.9)|529 (54.2)| 97 (1.9)|542  (8.1)| 0 (0.0)|---    --- | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
New Zealand .........|        19 |        52 |        63 |       28 |        25 |         14 |    5 (1.8)|484 (11.6)| 42 (4.3)|514  (7.1)|50 (4.3)|507  (6.4) | 3 (1.5)|503 (27.3)
Norway ..............|\2\     17 |\2\     58 |\2\     71 |\3\     4 |\2\     36 |\3\       6 |\2\ 7 (2.6)|502  (5.0)| 80 (3.9)|508  (3.1)| 8 (2.8)|502  (7.7) | 5 (2.1)|513  (7.7)
Portugal ............|        10 |        67 |        69 |        5 |        50 |          4 |    1 (0.8)|---   --- | 89 (2.9)|455  (2.7)|10 (2.8)|452  (7.8) | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
Romania\1\ ..........|        12 |        86 |        56 |       19 |        18 |          3 |    8 (2.6)|497 (17.6)| 80 (3.4)|481  (5.0)| 9 (2.5)|482 (12.4) | 2 (0.6)|---   ---
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
Russian Federation ..|         6 |        66 |        65 |       37 |        22 |         13 |    0 (0.0)|---   --- | 17 (3.6)|519  (8.6)|70 (5.6)|533  (5.1) |14 (4.8)|567 (18.0)
Scotland\1\ .........|\2\      5 |\2\     34 |\2\     62 |\2\    28 |\2\      7 |\2\       3 |    5 (2.0)|473 (14.7)| 35 (4.4)|500 (11.6)|60 (4.6)|494  (7.1) | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
Singapore............|        15 |        61 |        48 |       27 |        20 |          6 |    0 (0.0)|---   --- | 52 (4.7)|654  (6.9)|48 (4.7)|633  (7.6) | 0 (0.0)|---   ---
Slovak Republic .....|        35 |        47 |        50 |       31 |         8 |          7 |    0 (0.0)|---   --- |  2 (1.3)|---   --- |86 (3.0)|544  (3.2) |11 (2.9)|561 (11.0)
Slovenia\1\ .........|\2\     11 |\2\     60 |\2\     87 |\2\    34 |\2\     40 |\2\      11 |\2\ 0 (0.0)|---   --- | 87 (3.4)|542  (4.0)|12 (3.3)|525  (9.5) | 1 (0.8)|---   ---
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
South Africa\1\ .....|        ---|        ---|        ---|       ---|        ---|         ---|   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |--- --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
Spain ...............|\2\     15 |\2\     68 |\2\     58 |\2\    24 |\2\     15 |\2\      10 |\2\ 2 (1.1)|---   --- | 28 (4.0)|480  (5.5)|62 (4.7)|490  (3.6) | 8 (2.6)|494  (9.2)
Sweden ..............|\2\     24 |\2\     50 |\2\     72 |\2\     1 |\2\     43 |\2\       5 |\2\ 3 (1.2)|506 (24.2)| 97 (1.3)|520  (3.2)| 0 (0.4)|---    --- | 0 (0.3)|---   ---
Switzerland .........|\3\      4 |\3\     48 |\3\     61 |\3\    25 |\3\     35 |\3\      20 |\3\ 2 (1.4)|---   --- | 14 (3.4)|520 (17.8)|71 (3.5)|557  (6.5) |13 (3.0)|566 (12.4)
Thailand\1\ .........|\2\     19 |\3\     58 |\2\     41 |\2\    18 |\2\     22 |\2\       5 |   --- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   --- |    --- |---    --- |--- --- |---   ---
                     |           |           |           |          |           |            |           |          |         |          |        |           |        |
United States .......|\2\     22 |\2\     49 |\2\     50 |\2\    19 |\2\     26 |\2\      12 |\3\ 8 (1.4)|492 (26.2)| 24 (3.4)|501  (9.9)|58 (4.4)|507  (5.4) |11 (2.8)|498 (10.0)
_____________________|___________|___________|___________|__________|___________|____________|___________|__________|_________|__________|________|___________|________|__________

\1\Countries not meeting all International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's sampling specifications.
\2\Teacher response data available for 70 to 84 percent of students.
\3\Teacher response data available for 50 to 69 percent of students.
---Data not available or not applicable.

NOTE.--Data are for 8th grade or equivalent in most countries. Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 1997, by Albert E. Beaton et al. Copyright @ 1996 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. (This table was prepared June 1997.)


1998 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest