Table 2. Average mathematics scale scores of fourth-grade students, by country: 2003
Country Average score
International average
495
 
+ Singapore
594
+ Hong Kong SAR1,2
575
+ Japan
565
+ Chinese Taipei
564
+ Belgium-Flemish
551
+ Netherlands2
540
+ Latvia
536
+ Lithuania3
534
+ Russian Federation
532
+ England2
531
+ Hungary
529
• United States2
518
– Cyprus
510
– Moldova, Republic of
504
– Italy
503
– Australia2
499
– New Zealand
493
– Scotland2
490
– Slovenia
479
– Armenia
456
– Norway
451
– Iran, Islamic Republic of
389
– Philippines
358
– Morocco
347
– Tunisia
339
 
   + Average is higher than the U.S. average
   • Average is not measurably different from the U.S. average
    Average is lower than the U.S. average
1Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.
2Met international guidelines for participation rates in 2003 only after replacement schools were included.
3National desired population does not cover all of the international desired population.
NOTE: Countries are ordered by 2003 average score. The test for significance between the United States and the international average was adjusted to account for the U.S. contribution to the international average. Countries were required to sample students in the upper of the two grades that contained the largest number of 9-year-olds. In the United States and most countries, this corresponds to grade 4. See table A1 in appendix A for details.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2003.

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