This issue of the Education Statistics Quarterly highlights the 1999 Third International Mathematics and Science Study–Repeat (TIMSS–R), which focuses on the mathematics and science achievement of eighth-grade students in participating nations. TIMSS–R is but one of an extensive set of NCES assessment surveys that collectively measure a wide variety of knowledge and skills in populations ranging from toddlers to adults. In addition to collecting data from “tests,” these surveys collect contextual data about home, school, and societal factors that may affect participants’ performance. By providing objective measures of achievement in connection with related factors, these surveys offer invaluable guidance for policy reform efforts. A number of these surveys also place the achievement of Americans in an international context by including results from other countries; such international surveys are conducted in cooperation with international organizations.

The Early Childhood Longitudinal Study (ECLS) is designed to provide information about America’s youngest learners by collecting information from two cohorts–the kindergarten class of 1998–99 (ECLS–K) and the birth cohort of 2001 (ECLS–B). ECLS–K began collecting data on a nationally representative sample of about 22,000 American kindergartners in fall 1998 and will follow these children through the fifth grade. ECLS–B will follow a nationally representative sample of about 15,000 children born in 2001 from 9 months of age through the first grade. Both ECLS–K and ECLS–B include periodic assessments of children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development.

At the heart of the NCES assessment program is the congressionally mandated National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), also known as “the Nation’s Report Card.” For about 3 decades, NAEP has reported on what American elementary and secondary students know and can do in academic subjects. NAEP conducts both long-term trend assessments and main assessments. Long-term trend assessments cover several core subjects, providing national and regional data on changes in student achievement over the decades. Most recently, about 30,000 students took part in the 1999 long-term trend assessment in reading, mathematics, and science. Another long-term assessment in the same subjects is scheduled for 2003. Main assessments collect data about a large number of subjects, including reading, mathematics, science, writing, civics, U.S. history, geography, and the arts. In addition to providing results at the national and regional levels, many main assessments provide state-level data for those states that choose to participate (47 states participated in 1996). Main assessments generally involve about 130,000 students. In 2000, mathematics, science, and reading were covered by main assessments; U.S. history and geography are scheduled for the next main assessments, to be conducted in 2001.

The 1999 TIMSS–R, a successor to the 1995 TIMSS, focuses on the mathematics and science achievement of eighth-grade students. The original TIMSS collected data from fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders in 41 countries, while TIMSS–R collected data from eighth-graders in 38 countries. TIMSS–R allows the United States to compare the achievement of its eighth-graders in the 1995 TIMSS to the achievement of its eighth-graders 4 years later. The performance of U.S. fourth-graders relative to those of other nations in 1995 can also be compared to the performance of U.S. eighth-graders relative to those of the same nations 4 years later.

The Civic Education Study (CivEd), conducted in 1999, measures ninth-graders’ knowledge and attitudes about democratic practices and institutions. In addition to allowing comparisons of U.S. students with those of 27 other participating countries, CivEd results are also invaluable for understanding U.S. students’ attitudes about democracy, national identity, international relations, and social cohesion and diversity.

The new Program for International Assessment (PISA) is designed to monitor, on a regular 3-year cycle, the achievement of 15-year-old students in three subject areas: reading literacy, mathematical literacy, and scientific literacy. In each assessment cycle, PISA will focus on one of the three subject areas. The first assessment cycle, for which data was collected in the United States in spring 2000, focuses on reading literacy. Results are expected to be available beginning in late 2001.

In spring 2001, the Progress in International Reading Literacy Survey (PIRLS) will collect data on the reading literacy of 9-year-olds. PIRLS is planned as a regular international assessment to be conducted every 4 years, allowing for the measurement of trends over time.

NCES has conducted assessments of U.S. adult literacy since 1985. The 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS), administered to over 13,000 American adults, measured a variety of literacy skills, including the ability to understand and use information in connected texts, the ability to locate and use information in other types of documents, and the ability to apply arithmetic operations to numbers in printed materials. Building upon NALS, the 2002 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) will provide an indication of the nation’s progress in adult literacy since 1992.

Also planned for 2002 is an international survey of adult skills, the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills (ALL) survey. While ALL is designed to assess the adult literacy skills that were assessed by previous international studies, it also aims to go beyond previous studies by including a broader range of lifeskills than were previously assessed. The results will allow comparisons of U.S. adults with adults in other countries.