U.S. 4th-graders outperformed students in more countries when assessed on data display than they did in number and geometric shapes and measures. Assessed on data and chance, number, algebra, and geometry, U.S. 8th-graders outperformed students in the most countries in data and chance and in the fewest countries in geometry.
Conducted in 2007, the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessed students' mathematics performance in 36 countries at grade 4 and in 48 countries at grade 8. TIMSS is curriculum based and measures what students have learned against what is expected to be taught in the participating countries by the end of grades 4 and 8. In addition to providing an overall mathematics score, TIMSS measures three content domains at grade 4 (number, geometric shapes and measures, and data display) and four at grade 8 (number, algebra, geometry, and data and chance).
U.S. 4th-graders scored between 22 and 43 points higher than the TIMSS scale average of 500 across the mathematics content domains in 2007 (table A-15-1). U.S. 4th-graders outperformed students in more countries in data display than they did in the other content domains of number and geometric shapes and measures. In data display, U.S. 4th-graders outperformed their peers in 28 countries. In number and geometric shapes and measures, they outperformed their peers in 22 and 20 countries, respectively. Students in 10 countries outperformed U.S. 4th-graders in geometric shapes and measures, 9 countries in number, and 4 countries in data display.
At the 8th grade, U.S. students' average scores in number and data and chance were 10 and 31 points, respectively, above the TIMSS scale averages of 500 (table A-15-2). However, U.S. 8th-graders' average score in geometry was 20 points lower than the TIMSS scale average. There was no measurable difference between U.S. 8th-graders' average score and the TIMSS scale average in algebra. U.S. 8th-graders outperformed their peers in the most countries in data and chance and in the fewest countries in geometry. In data and chance, U.S. 8th-graders outperformed their peers in 38 countries. In algebra, number, and geometry, they outperformed their peers in 37, 35, and 29 countries, respectively. Students in 14 countries outperformed U.S. 8th-graders in geometry, 7 countries in algebra, 6 countries in data and chance, and 5 countries in number.
In 2007, for number and data display, there were differences in the scores of 4th-grade males and females in at least half of the 35 participating countries with reliable data (table A-15-3). Where differences were detected, males were more likely to outperform females in number, while females were more likely to outperform males in geometric shapes and measures and data display. Males outperformed females in number in 19 countries, including the United States, while females outperformed males in 3 countries. In geometric shapes and measures, females outperformed males in 11 countries while males outperformed females in 2 countries; in data display, females outperformed males in 15 countries while males outperformed females in 3 countries.
At grade 8, for two of the four content domains, differences were detected in the scores of males and females in at least half of the 48 countries participating (table A-15-4). Where differences were detected, males outperformed females in number in 20 countries, including the United States, while females outperformed males in 7 countries. In algebra, males outperformed females in 4 countries, while females outperformed males in 31 countries. In the other two content domains, males outperformed females in geometry in 6 countries, including the United States, while females outperformed males in 15 countries; in data and chance, males outperformed females in 9 countries, including the United States, while females outperformed males in 14 countries.
Technical Notes
The term "country" is used to refer to all participating entities, even those that
are subnational entities of larger countries (e.g., Hong Kong SAR). The number of
countries reported here differs from the number reported in the international TIMSS
reports. Eight other educational jurisdictions participated in TIMSS: the states
of Massachusetts and Minnesota; the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia,
Ontario, and Quebec; the Basque region of Spain; and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Morocco participated at grade 8, but due to sampling difficulties its data are not
shown. The TIMSS scale average is 0 to 1,000, with a mean established at 500 and
a standard deviation of 100, based on the average of all countries that participated
in 1995. Successive assessments were scaled so that scores are equivalent from assessment
to assessment. Thus, a score of 500 in grade 8 mathematics in 2007 is equivalent
to a score of 500 in grade 8 mathematics in 2003, 1999, and 1995. For more information
on TIMSS, see supplemental note 5.
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