| Country (ordered by total score) |
Total mathematics | Content domain | Percentile | |||||||||||
| Number | Geometric shapes and measures | Data display | 90th | 10th | ||||||||||
| TIMSS scale average | 500 | * | 500 | * | 500 | * | 500 | * | † | † | ||||
| Hong Kong SAR1 | 607 | * | 606 | * | 599 | * | 585 | * | 691 | * | 520 | * | ||
| Singapore | 599 | * | 611 | * | 570 | * | 583 | * | 702 | * | 487 | * | ||
| Chinese Taipei | 576 | * | 581 | * | 556 | * | 567 | * | 663 | * | 488 | * | ||
| Japan | 568 | * | 561 | * | 566 | * | 578 | * | 663 | * | 471 | * | ||
| Kazakhstan2 | 549 | * | 556 | * | 542 | * | 522 | * | 653 | * | 435 | |||
| Russian Federation | 544 | * | 546 | * | 538 | * | 530 | * | 647 | * | 436 | |||
| England | 541 | * | 531 | 548 | * | 547 | 647 | * | 429 | |||||
| Latvia2 | 537 | * | 536 | * | 532 | * | 536 | * | 628 | 444 | * | |||
| Netherlands3 | 535 | 535 | * | 522 | 543 | 612 | * | 454 | * | |||||
| Lithuania2 | 530 | 533 | * | 518 | 530 | * | 624 | 430 | ||||||
| United States4,5 | 529 | 524 | 522 | 543 | 625 | 430 | ||||||||
| Germany | 525 | 521 | 528 | 534 | * | 607 | * | 440 | ||||||
| Denmark4 | 523 | 509 | * | 544 | * | 529 | * | 611 | * | 431 | ||||
| Australia | 516 | * | 496 | * | 536 | * | 534 | * | 620 | 408 | * | |||
| Hungary | 510 | * | 510 | * | 510 | * | 504 | * | 620 | 389 | * | |||
| Italy | 507 | * | 505 | * | 509 | * | 506 | * | 601 | * | 406 | * | ||
| Austria | 505 | * | 502 | * | 509 | * | 508 | * | 590 | * | 416 | * | ||
| Sweden | 503 | * | 490 | * | 508 | * | 529 | * | 586 | * | 417 | * | ||
| Slovenia | 502 | * | 485 | * | 522 | 518 | * | 589 | * | 408 | * | |||
| Armenia | 500 | * | 522 | 483 | * | 458 | * | 617 | 385 | * | ||||
| Slovak Republic | 496 | * | 495 | * | 499 | * | 492 | * | 597 | * | 389 | * | ||
| Scotland4 | 494 | * | 481 | * | 503 | * | 516 | * | 592 | * | 389 | * | ||
| New Zealand | 492 | * | 478 | * | 502 | * | 513 | * | 598 | * | 377 | * | ||
| Czech Republic | 486 | * | 482 | * | 494 | * | 493 | * | 576 | * | 392 | * | ||
| Norway | 473 | * | 461 | * | 490 | * | 487 | * | 566 | * | 372 | * | ||
| Ukraine | 469 | * | 480 | * | 457 | * | 462 | * | 573 | * | 356 | * | ||
| Georgia2 | 438 | * | 464 | * | 415 | * | 414 | * | 549 | * | 322 | * | ||
| Iran, Islamic Republic of | 402 | * | 398 | * | 429 | * | 400 | * | 508 | * | 290 | * | ||
| Algeria | 378 | * | 391 | * | 383 | * | 361 | * | 493 | * | 261 | * | ||
| Colombia | 355 | * | 360 | * | 361 | * | 363 | * | 470 | * | 238 | * | ||
| Morocco | 341 | * | 353 | * | 365 | * | 316 | * | 466 | * | 223 | * | ||
| El Salvador | 330 | * | 317 | * | 333 | * | 367 | * | 448 | * | 212 | * | ||
| Tunisia | 327 | * | 352 | * | 334 | * | 307 | * | 469 | * | 178 | * | ||
| Kuwait6 | 316 | * | 321 | * | 316 | * | 318 | * | 443 | * | 184 | * | ||
| Qatar | 296 | * | 292 | * | 296 | * | 326 | * | 413 | * | 179 | * | ||
| Yemen | 224 | * | — | — | — | 371 | * | 81 | * | |||||
| *p < .05. Significantly different from the U.S. score. | ||||||||||||||
| — Not available. Average achievement could not be accurately estimated. | ||||||||||||||
| † Not applicable. | ||||||||||||||
| 1 Hong Kong SAR is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China. | ||||||||||||||
| 2 National Target Population did not include all of the International Target Population. | ||||||||||||||
| 3 Nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates only after substitute schools were included. | ||||||||||||||
| 4 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after substitute schools were included. | ||||||||||||||
| 5 National Defined Population covered less than 90 to 95 percent of National Target Population. | ||||||||||||||
| 6 Kuwait tested the same cohort of students as other countries, but later in 2007, at the beginning of the next school year. | ||||||||||||||
| NOTE: Results from the grade 4 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment are reported on a total mathematics scale, which captures students’ overall mathematics knowledge and skills, and three content domains. The TIMSS scale average was established with a mean of 500 and a standard deviation of 100, based on the average of all the countries that participated in 1995. Successive TIMSS assessments have scaled achievement data so that scores are equivalent from assessment to assessment. That is, a score of 500 in grade 4 mathematics in 2007 is equivalent to a score of 500 in grade 4 mathematics in 2003 and 1995. Countries are ordered by total mathematics average score. Ordering of countries does not imply that scores are measurably different from one another. Percentile scores are calculated based on distribution of student scores within each country. Tests for significance account for the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one country may be, while a large difference between the United States and another country may not be significant. For more information on the TIMSS, see supplemental note 5. | ||||||||||||||
| 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 3, 6, and 9, data from International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2007. | ||||||||||||||
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