• Public school students' average score was 554 at grade 4 and 537 at grade 8.
• Higher percentages of North Carolina 4th- and 8th-graders performed at or above each of the four TIMSS international benchmarks than the international medians. For example, 16 percent of 4th-graders and 14 percent of 8th-graders in North Carolina performed at or above the Advanced benchmark (625) compared to the international median of 4 percent at grade 4 and 3 percent at grade 8 (see figures 3 and 4, Highlights from TIMSS 2011).
• Males outperformed females by 12 score points, on average, at grade 4. At both grade 4 and 8, males and females scored higher in mathematics, on average, than the TIMSS scale average (table 2).
• At grade 4, all racial/ethnic groups performed above the TIMSS scale average. At grade 8, White, Asian, and multiracial students' average scores were above the TIMSS scale average, while Black and Hispanic students' average scores were not measurably different from the TIMSS scale average.
• In general, students at grade 4 scored higher, on average, than the TIMSS scale average. At grade 8 students in public schools with less than 50 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored higher, on average, than the TIMSS scale average, while average scores for students in public schools with 50 percent or more students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch were not measurably different from the TIMSS scale average.

Suggested Citation: Provasnik, S., Kastberg, D., Ferraro, D., Lemanski, N., Roey, S., and Jenkins, F. (2012). Highlights From TIMSS 2011: Mathematics and Science Achievement of U.S. Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Students in an International Context (NCES 2013-009). National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Washington, DC.