• Public school students’ average score was 485 at grade 8.
• The percentages of Alabama 8th-graders reaching the Advanced, High, and Intermediate international science benchmarks were not measurably different from the international medians (see figure 12, Highlights from TIMSS 2011). However, Alabama 8th- graders performed above the international median at the Low benchmark (83 percent vs. 79 percent).
• Female students in Alabama scored below the TIMSS scale average in science (table 2).
• White students’ average scores were higher than the TIMSS scale average. Asian and multiracial students’ average scores were not measurably different from the TIMSS scale average. However, Black and Hispanic students scored lower, on average, that the TIMSS scale average (table 2).
• Students in public schools with less than 10 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored higher, on average, than the TIMSS scale average, while those in schools with 75 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch scored lower, on average, than 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.