• Public school students’ average score was 499 at grade 8.
• Higher percentages of California 8th-graders performed at or above each of the four TIMSS international benchmarks than the international medians. For example, 6 percent of 8th- graders in California performed at or above the Advanced benchmark (625) compared to the international median of 4 percent at grade 8 (see figure 12, Highlights from TIMSS 2011).
• In California males outperformed females by 12 score points, on average, in science (see figure 14, Highlights from TIMSS 2011).
• White, Asian, and multiracial students’ average scores were higher than the TIMSS scale average, while Black and Hispanic students scored lower, on average, than the TIMSS scale average (table 2).
• 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 students in public 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.