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Digest of Education Statistics
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Table 602.20. Average fourth-grade scores and annual instructional time in mathematics and science, by country or other education system: 2011
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country or other education system1 Total instructional hours per year Mathematics Science
Average score2 Instructional time in mathematics Average score2 Instructional time in science
Hours per year As a percent of total instructional hours Hours per year As a percent of total instructional hours
1     2 3 4 5 6 7 8
TIMSS average3  897   (2.0) 500   (†) 162   (0.5) 18 (0.1) 500   (†) 85   (0.5) 10 (0.1)
Armenia 851 4  (17.1) 452   (3.5) 139 4  (1.7) 16 (0.2) 416   (3.8) 54 5  (0.6) 6 (0.1)
Australia 1,008   (6.9) 516   (2.9) 230 5  (5.8) 23 (0.6) 516   (2.8) 65 5  (2.3) 6 (0.2)
Austria 808   (6.9) 508   (2.6) 146   (2.1) 18 (0.3) 532   (2.8) 96   (2.3) 12 (0.3)
Azerbaijan6,7 804   (27.7) 463   (5.8) 130   (3.3) 18 (0.7) 438   (5.6) 61   (1.4) 8 (0.3)
Bahrain 964   (10.8) 436   (3.3) 131 4  (4.4) 14 (0.4) 449   (3.5) 85 4  (2.7) 9 (0.3)
                                       
Belgium (Flemish)-BEL 1,010 4  (16.8) 549   (1.9) 224 4  (4.1) 21 (0.3) 509   (2.0)   (†) (†)
Chile 1,228 4  (22.6) 462   (2.3) 231 5  (6.7) 19 (0.6) 480   (2.4) 161 5  (6.4) 13 (0.5)
Chinese Taipei-CHN 989 4  (13.4) 591   (2.0) 133   (3.9) 12 (0.4) 552   (2.2) 90   (2.3) 9 (0.3)
Croatia6 776   (19.4) 490   (1.9) 134   (2.3) 18 (0.4) 516   (2.1) 95   (2.4) 13 (0.4)
Czech Republic 782   (8.2) 511   (2.4) 163   (3.0) 21 (0.4) 536   (2.5) 60   (2.2) 8 (0.3)
                                       
Denmark6 863 4  (9.4) 537   (2.6) 124 5  (2.0) 15 (0.3) 528   (2.8) 62 5  (1.9) 7 (0.2)
England-GBR 970 4  (8.3) 542   (3.5) 188 5  (3.3) 19 (0.4) 529   (2.9) 76 5  (3.2) 8 (0.3)
Finland 779   (9.8) 545   (2.3) 139   (2.5) 18 (0.4) 570   (2.6) 98   (1.9) 13 (0.4)
Georgia7,8 748 4  (18.7) 450   (3.7) 148 4  (3.9) 21 (0.6) 455   (3.8) 110 4  (2.7) 16 (0.4)
Germany 863 4  (11.2) 528   (2.2) 163 4  (3.1) 19 (0.3) 528   (2.9) 75 5  (3.5) 8 (0.4)
                                       
Hong Kong-CHN6 1,059 4  (11.2) 602   (3.4) 158 4  (3.0) 15 (0.3) 535   (3.8) 88 4  (4.2) 8 (0.4)
Hungary 760   (12.2) 515   (3.4) 148   (3.3) 20 (0.5) 534   (3.7) 72   (2.2) 10 (0.3)
Iran, Islamic Republic of 727   (11.2) 431   (3.5) 146   (3.9) 20 (0.4) 453   (3.7) 106   (3.2) 14 (0.4)
Ireland 854   (#) 527   (2.6) 150   (2.8) 18 (0.3) 516   (3.4) 63   (6.6) 7 (0.8)
Italy 1,085   (12.6) 508   (2.6) 214   (3.9) 20 (0.4) 524   (2.7) 78 4  (1.8) 7 (0.2)
                                       
Japan 891   (3.7) 585   (1.7) 150   (1.6) 17 (0.1) 559   (1.9) 91   (0.8) 10 (0.1)
Kazakhstan6 779   (10.6) 501   (4.5) 140   (2.7) 18 (0.4) 495   (5.1) 57   (1.3) 8 (0.2)
Korea, Republic of 789   (11.4) 605   (1.9) 121   (3.0) 15 (0.4) 587   (2.0) 92   (2.5) 11 (0.4)
Kuwait8 928 4  (23.1) 342 9  (3.4) 120 4  (4.9) 13 (0.4) 347 10  (4.7) 85 5  (5.8) 10 (0.6)
Lithuania6,8 649   (9.0) 534   (2.4) 133   (2.6) 21 (0.5) 515   (2.4) 60   (1.5) 9 (0.3)
                                       
Malta 891 4  (0.2) 496   (1.3) 183 4  (0.1) 21 (#) 446   (1.9) 39 4  (0.1) 4 (#)
Morocco 1,040 4  (23.6) 335 9  (4.0) 174 5  (3.5) 17 (0.4) 264 9  (4.5) 44 5  (5.5) 5 (0.6)
Netherlands11 1,074 5  (9.9) 540   (1.7) 195 5  (7.0) 18 (0.5) 531   (2.2) 42 5  (2.4) 4 (0.2)
New Zealand 925   (3.9) 486   (2.6) 168   (2.4) 18 (0.3) 497   (2.3) 52 5  (3.0) 6 (0.3)
Northern Ireland-GBR11 970 4  (11.0) 562   (2.9) 232 5  (6.1) 24 (0.6) 517   (2.6) 72 5  (3.9) 8 (0.4)
                                       
Norway12 817   (10.7) 495   (2.8) 157   (4.1) 19 (0.6) 494   (2.3) 55   (2.2) 7 (0.3)
Oman 999 5  (17.4) 385 10  (2.9) 170 5  (3.1) 17 (0.3) 377   (4.3) 120 5  (2.4) 12 (0.2)
Poland 764 4  (13.5) 481   (2.2) 157 4  (3.0) 21 (0.5) 505   (2.6) 64 4  (3.1) 8 (0.4)
Portugal 940 4  (13.1) 532   (3.4) 250 4  (4.3) 27 (0.4) 522   (3.9) 162 4  (4.1) 17 (0.8)
Qatar6 1,068   (9.1) 413   (3.5) 185   (6.3) 17 (0.6) 394   (4.3) 135   (6.8) 13 (0.6)
                                       
Romania 796   (17.9) 482   (5.8) 148   (3.9) 19 (0.5) 505   (5.9) 56   (6.2) 7 (0.8)
Russian Federation 660 4  (8.0) 542   (3.7) 104   (1.0) 16 (0.2) 552   (3.5) 49   (0.7) 8 (0.2)
Saudi Arabia 977 4  (19.4) 410   (5.3) 147 4  (6.6) 15 (0.5) 429   (5.4) 82 4  (4.2) 8 (0.5)
Serbia6 778   (18.5) 516   (3.0) 153   (2.1) 20 (0.5) 516   (3.1) 72   (5.0) 10 (0.9)
Singapore6 1,012   (#) 606   (3.2) 208   (3.2) 21 (0.3) 583   (3.4) 96   (2.1) 9 (0.2)
                                       
Slovak Republic 780   (8.8) 507   (3.8) 147   (1.4) 19 (0.1) 532   (3.8) 101   (4.3) 13 (0.6)
Slovenia 684   (#) 513   (2.2) 169   (2.6) 25 (0.4) 520   (2.7) 101   (1.2) 15 (0.2)
Spain 884 4  (9.7) 482   (2.9) 167 4  (2.3) 19 (0.2) 505   (3.0) 145 4  (2.6) 16 (0.3)
Sweden 849 4  (11.3) 504   (2.0) 138 5  (3.8) 17 (0.5) 533   (2.7) 75 5  (3.0) 9 (0.4)
Thailand 1,201 4  (20.9) 458   (4.8) 167   (5.2) 14 (0.6) 472   (5.6) 109   (4.9) 9 (0.5)
                                       
Tunisia 963 4  (22.9) 359 10  (3.9) 175 4  (2.9) 19 (0.3) 346 10  (5.3) 93 4  (5.4) 10 (0.6)
Turkey 900   (19.3) 469   (4.7) 126   (2.5) 15 (0.4) 463   (4.5) 94   (1.8) 11 (0.3)
United Arab Emirates 1,025 4  (8.5) 434   (2.0) 154 5  (2.4) 15 (0.2) 428   (2.5) 108 5  (3.0) 11 (0.3)
United States6 1,078   (7.3) 541   (1.8) 206 4  (4.6) 19 (0.5) 544   (2.1) 105 4  (3.1) 10 (0.3)
Yemen 831 4  (14.1) 248 9  (6.0) 135 4  (6.4) 16 (0.7) 209 9  (7.3) 91 4  (5.6) 11 (0.6)
                                       
Benchmarking education
   systems
                                     
Abu Dhabi-UAE 1,033 4  (18.1) 417   (4.6) 150 5  (4.3) 15 (0.4) 411   (4.9) 110 5  (6.8) 11 (0.6)
Alberta-CAN6  1,006   (8.8) 507   (2.5) 169 5  (3.2) 17 (0.4) 541   (2.4) 130 5  (4.1) 13 (0.6)
Dubai-UAE 993 4  (0.7) 468   (1.6) 158 5  (2.3) 16 (0.2) 461   (2.3) 99 5  (1.6) 10 (0.2)
Florida-USA8,13,14 1,073 4  (19.7) 545   (2.9) 217 5  (8.8) 20 (0.9) 545   (3.7) 113 5  (9.6) 10 (0.8)
North Carolina-USA6,8,14 1,113 4  (22.9) 554   (4.2) 221 4  (13.5) 20 (1.2) 538   (4.6) 94 4  (6.0) 9 (0.4)
Ontario-CAN 969   (7.4) 518   (3.1) 201 4  (4.1) 21 (0.5) 528   (3.0) 92 4  (3.2) 10 (0.3)
Quebec-CAN 916   (5.1) 533   (2.4) 229   (5.0) 25 (0.6) 516   (2.7) 50   (1.7) 5 (0.2)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
1 Most of the education systems represent complete countries, but some represent subnational entities such as U.S. states, Canadian provinces, and England (which is part of the United Kingdom). The name of each subnational entity appears in italics and includes as a suffix the three-letter International Organization for Standardization (ISO) abbreviation for its complete country. Examples include Florida-USA, Ontario-CAN, and England-GBR.
2 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000, with the scale average set at 500 and the standard deviation set at 100.
3 The TIMSS average includes only education systems that are members of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IAE), which develops and implements TIMSS at the international level. "Benchmarking" education systems are not members of the IEA and are therefore not included in the average.
4 Data are available for at least 70 percent but less than 85 percent of students.
5 Data are available for at least 50 percent but less than 70 percent of students.
6 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of National Target Population.
7 Exclusion rates for Azerbaijan and Georgia are slightly underestimated as some conflict zones were not covered and no official statistics were available.
8 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population defined by TIMSS.
9 The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center has reservations about the reliability of the average achievement score because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeds 25 percent.
10 The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center has reservations about the reliability of the average achievement score because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeds 15 percent, though it is less than 25 percent.
11 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
12 Nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates after replacement schools were included.
13 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent of National Target Population (but at least 77 percent).
14 All U.S. state data are based on public school students only.
NOTE: Countries were required to sample students in the grade that corresponded to the end of 4 years of formal schooling, providing that the mean age at the time of testing was at least 9.5 years. Instructional times shown in this table are actual or implemented times (as opposed to intended times prescribed by the curriculum). Principals reported total instructional hours per day and school days per year. Total instructional hours per year were calculated by multiplying the number of school days per year by the number of instructional hours per day. Teachers reported instructional hours per week in mathematics and science. Instructional hours per year in mathematics and science were calculated by dividing weekly instructional hours by the number of school days per week and then multiplying by the number of school days per year.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2011; TIMSS 2011 International Results in Mathematics, by Ina V.S. Mullis et al.; and TIMSS 2011 International Results in Science, by Michael O. Martin et al. (This table was prepared December 2012.)

2014 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest