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Percentage of 4th-grade students reaching the TIMSS international benchmarks in mathematics, by education system: 2011


TIMSS Results 2003

Table 2. Average science scale scores of fourth-grade students, by country: 2003


Country Average score
International average 489
Singapore 565
Chinese Taipei 551
Japan 543
Hong Kong SAR1.2 542
England2 540
United States2 536
Latvia 532
Hungary 530
Russian Federation 526
Netherlands2 525
Australia2 521
New Zealand 520
Belgium-Flemish 518
Italy 516
Lithuania3 512
Scotland2 502
Moldova, Republic of 496
Slovenia 490
Cyprus 480
Norway 466
Armenia 437
Iran, Islamic Republic of 414
Philippines 332
Tunisia 314
Morocco 304
Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Japan  Average is higher than the U.S. average
Hong Kong, England, United States, Latvia, Hungary, Russian Federation  Average is not measurably different from the
International average, Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium-Flemish, Italy, Lithuania, Scotland,Republic of Moldova, Slovenia, Cyprus, Norway, Armenia, Islamic Republic of Iran, Philippines, Tunisia, Morocco  Average is lower than the U.S. average
1 Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China.
2 Met international guidelines for participation rates in 2003 only after replacement schools were included.
3 National desired population does not cover all of the international desired population.
NOTE: 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. The tests for significance take into account the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one country may be significant while a large difference between the United States and another country may not be significant. 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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