Elementary and Secondary Education

Assessments

Table A-15-2. Average mathematics scale scores and percentile scores of 8th-grade students, by content domain and country: 2007

Country (ordered by total score)	Total mathematics		Content domain								Percentile
Country (ordered by total score)	Total mathematics		Number		Algebra		Geometry		Data and chance		90th		10th
TIMSS scale average	500	*	500	*	500		500	*	500	*	†		†
Chinese Taipei	598	*	577	*	617	*	592	*	566	*	721	*	448	*
Korea, Republic of	597	*	583	*	596	*	587	*	580	*	711	*	475	*
Singapore	593	*	597	*	579	*	578	*	574	*	706	*	463	*
Hong Kong SAR^1,2	572	*	567	*	565	*	570	*	549	*	681	*	438
Japan	570	*	551	*	559	*	573	*	573	*	677	*	460	*

Hungary	517		517		503		508	*	524		624	*	405
England²	513		510		492		510	*	547	*	618		400
Russian Federation	512		507		518	*	510	*	487	*	617		402
United States^2,3	508		510		501		480		531		607		408
Lithuania⁴	506		506		483	*	507	*	523	*	609		402

Czech Republic	504		511		484	*	498	*	512	*	599		408
Slovenia	501	*	502	*	488	*	499	*	511	*	594	*	409
Armenia	499	*	492	*	532	*	493	*	427	*	601		390	*
Australia	496	*	503		471	*	487		525		600		394
Sweden	491	*	507		456	*	472	*	526		582	*	399

Malta	488	*	496	*	473	*	495	*	487	*	597	*	359	*
Scotland²	487	*	489	*	467	*	485		517	*	590	*	381	*
Serbia^3,4	486	*	478	*	500		486		458	*	597		368	*
Italy	480	*	478	*	460	*	490	*	491	*	574	*	381	*
Malaysia	474	*	491	*	454	*	477		469	*	578	*	372	*

Norway	469	*	488	*	425	*	459	*	505	*	552	*	382	*
Cyprus	465	*	464	*	468	*	458	*	464	*	575	*	347	*
Bulgaria	464	*	458	*	476	*	468	*	440	*	586	*	324	*
Israel⁵	463	*	469	*	470	*	436	*	465	*	584	*	328	*
Ukraine	462	*	460	*	464	*	467	*	458	*	572	*	346	*

Romania	461	*	457	*	478	*	466	*	429	*	587	*	328	*
Bosnia and Herzegovina	456	*	451	*	475	*	451	*	437	*	552	*	352	*
Lebanon	449	*	454	*	465	*	462	*	407	*	549	*	354	*
Thailand	441	*	444	*	433	*	442	*	453	*	562	*	327	*
Turkey	432	*	429	*	440	*	411	*	445	*	581	*	297	*

Jordan	427	*	416	*	448	*	436	*	425	*	556	*	290	*
Tunisia	420	*	425	*	423	*	437	*	411	*	508	*	336	*
Georgia⁴	410	*	421	*	421	*	409	*	373	*	532	*	280	*
Iran, Islamic Republic of	403	*	395	*	408	*	423	*	415	*	516	*	295	*
Bahrain	398	*	388	*	403	*	412	*	418	*	505	*	289	*

Indonesia	397	*	399	*	405	*	395	*	402	*	509	*	286	*
Syrian Arab Republic	395	*	393	*	406	*	417	*	387	*	502	*	290	*
Egypt	391	*	393	*	409	*	406	*	384	*	521	*	258	*
Algeria	387	*	403	*	349	*	432	*	371	*	465	*	311	*
Colombia	380	*	369	*	390	*	371	*	405	*	477	*	281	*

Oman	372	*	363	*	391	*	387	*	389	*	492	*	245	*
Palestinian National Authority	367	*	366	*	382	*	388	*	371	*	498	*	233	*
Botswana	364	*	366	*	394	*	325	*	384	*	460	*	264	*
Kuwait⁶	354	*	347	*	354	*	385	*	366	*	455	*	252	*
El Salvador	340	*	355	*	331	*	318	*	362	*	433	*	248	*

Saudi Arabia	329	*	309	*	344	*	359	*	348	*	429	*	231	*
Ghana	309	*	310	*	358	*	275	*	321	*	428	*	192	*
Qatar	307	*	334	*	312	*	301	*	305	*	427	*	186	*
*p < .05. Significantly different from the U.S. score.
† Not applicable.
¹ Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China.
² Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after substitute schools were included.
³ National Defined Population covered 90 to 95 percent of National Target Population.
⁴ National Target Population did not include all of the International Target Population.
⁵ National Defined Population covered less than 90 percent of National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
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 8 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 four 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 8 mathematics in 2007 is equivalent to a score of 500 in grade 8 mathematics in 2003, 1999, 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, 7, 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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