Special Analysis 2009
Science Results for 4th- and 8th-graders
Table 7. Average TIMSS scores of fourth-grade students in science, and cutpoint scores for bottom and top 10 percent of students in each jurisdiction, by jurisdiction: 2007
| Jurisdiction |
TIMSS |
|
Cutpoint score |
| Average score |
|
Bottom 10 percent |
|
Top 10 percent |
|
| All jurisdictions |
500 |
▼ |
359 |
▼ |
586 |
▼ |
| |
| Singapore |
587 |
∆ |
464 |
∆ |
701 |
∆ |
| Chinese Taipei |
557 |
∆ |
457 |
∆ |
653 |
∆ |
| Hong Kong SAR1 |
554 |
∆ |
466 |
∆ |
637 |
|
| Japan |
548 |
∆ |
459 |
∆ |
633 |
▼ |
| Russian Federation |
546 |
|
443 |
∆ |
646 |
|
| Latvia2 |
542 |
|
454 |
∆ |
625 |
▼ |
| England |
542 |
|
438 |
|
641 |
|
| United States3,4 |
539 |
|
427 |
|
643 |
|
| Hungary |
536 |
|
425 |
|
637 |
|
| Italy |
535 |
|
429 |
|
636 |
|
| Kazakhstan2 |
533 |
|
433 |
|
623 |
▼ |
| Germany |
528 |
▼ |
427 |
|
623 |
▼ |
| Australia |
527 |
▼ |
423 |
|
626 |
▼ |
| Slovak Republic |
526 |
▼ |
416 |
|
627 |
▼ |
| Austria |
526 |
▼ |
423 |
|
620 |
▼ |
| Sweden |
525 |
▼ |
429 |
|
617 |
▼ |
| Netherlands5 |
523 |
▼ |
445 |
∆ |
598 |
▼ |
| Slovenia |
518 |
▼ |
416 |
▼ |
610 |
▼ |
| Denmark3 |
517 |
▼ |
417 |
|
610 |
▼ |
| Czech Republic |
515 |
▼ |
416 |
▼ |
610 |
▼ |
| Lithuania2 |
514 |
▼ |
428 |
|
595 |
▼ |
| New Zealand |
504 |
▼ |
382 |
▼ |
614 |
▼ |
| Scotland3 |
500 |
▼ |
400 |
▼ |
593 |
▼ |
| Armenia |
484 |
▼ |
336 |
▼ |
640 |
|
| Norway |
477 |
▼ |
374 |
▼ |
570 |
▼ |
| Ukraine |
474 |
▼ |
364 |
▼ |
576 |
▼ |
| Iran, Islamic Republic of |
436 |
▼ |
304 |
▼ |
558 |
▼ |
| Georgia2 |
418 |
▼ |
306 |
▼ |
524 |
▼ |
| Colombia |
400 |
▼ |
271 |
▼ |
522 |
▼ |
| El Salvador |
390 |
▼ |
267 |
▼ |
507 |
▼ |
| Algeria |
354 |
▼ |
220 |
▼ |
483 |
▼ |
| Kuwait6 |
348 |
▼ |
182 |
▼ |
505 |
▼ |
| Tunisia |
318 |
▼ |
119 |
▼ |
497 |
▼ |
| Morocco |
297 |
▼ |
139 |
▼ |
465 |
▼ |
| Qatar |
294 |
▼ |
121 |
▼ |
464 |
▼ |
| Yemen |
197 |
▼ |
20 |
▼ |
379 |
▼ |
| ∆ Score is higher than U.S. score. |
| ▼Score is lower than U.S. score. |
| 1 Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. |
| 2 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population defined by the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). |
| 3 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after substitute schools were included. |
| 4 National Defined Population covers 90 percent to 95 percent of National Target Population. |
| 5 Nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates only after substitute schools were included. |
| 6 Kuwait tested the same cohort of students as other countries, but later in 2007, at the beginning of the next school year. |
| NOTE: Jurisdictions are ordered on the basis of average scores, from highest to lowest. Science scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. A cutpoint score is the threshold score for an established level of performance. The cutpoint scores for students in the top 10 percent is the 90th percentile score within the jurisdiction. The cutpoint score for students in the bottom 10 percent is the 10th percentile score within the jurisdiction. The tests for significance take into account the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one country may be significant while a large difference between the United States and another country may not be significant. |
| SOURCE: Gonzales, P., Williams, T., Jocelyn, L., Roey, S., Kastberg, D., and Brenwald, S. (2008). Highlights From TIMSS 2007: Mathematics and Science Achievement of U.S. Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Students in an International Context (NCES 2009-001), tables 11 and 17. National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC. |
