This appendix presents one-page profiles for each state and jurisdiction participating in grade 8 science in alphabetical order. Each page presents a table displaying how the state or jurisdiction would perform in comparison to the 41 nations that took TIMSS science at grade 8. Each table indicates whether the actual scores of the participating TIMSS nations are significantly higher than, not significantly different from, or significantly lower than the estimated average performance of the public school students in the state or jurisdiction. The significance of the difference of the estimated mean of the given jurisdiction and the actual means of the TIMSS countries are based on a Bonferroni multiple comparisons procedure that holds to 5 percent the probability of erroneously declaring any of the country means significantly different from the chosen jurisdiction's predicted mean.

A second profile is presented for the state of Minnesota in addition to the profile for the estimated average performance. Because actual TIMSS results for Minnesota's public school students are available, these are compared with the results of the 41 nations who participated in TIMSS for grade 8 science.

Readers of these profiles are reminded that the state's or jurisdiction's TIMSS performance in grade 8 science is estimated from its NAEP score, using the linking function, and must therefore be interpreted with caution. Furthermore, the calculations for the 1996 NAEP scores and 1995 TIMSS scores for the participating states, jurisdictions, and nations are based on samples of the student populations, not entire student populations. Hence, estimates are imprecise.

The SOLE purpose of these profiles is to allow the comparison of predicted TIMSS performances for individual states with the actual TIMSS performances of individual countries. It is NOT appropriate to use these profiles to compare performances between states or between countries. Accordingly, the profiles for the states and jurisdictions participating in NAEP grade 8 science are arranged in alphabetical order. The proper between-state comparisons are provided in the NAEP reports (O'Sullivan, Reese, and Mazzeo 1997), while the proper between country comparisons are provided in the TIMSS reports (Beaton, Martin, et al., 1997).

Comparisons of Estimated TIMSS Scores from Public School NAEP Data for States and Jurisdictions with Actual TIMSS Scores for Nations: Grade 8 Science States (1996), Nations (1995)

If the public school students in Alabama participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

State/Jurisdiction: (Alaska)

If the public school students in Alaska participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Arizona participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

State/Jurisdiction: (Arkansas)

If the public school students in Arkansas participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in California participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Colorado participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

State/Jurisdiction: Connecticut

If the public school students in Connecticut participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Delaware participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in the DDESS participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in the DoDDS participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

State/Jurisdiction: District of Columbia

If the public school students in the District of Columbia participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Florida participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Georgia participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

State/Jurisdiction: Guam

If the public school students in Guam participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?

If the public school students in Hawaii participated in TIMSS, how would their average performance in science compare to that of students in the 41 nations that took TIMSS at grade 8?