In addition to the following questions about TIMSS, more FAQs about international assessments are available at: http://nces.ed.gov/surveys/international/faqs.asp.

• What areas of mathematics and science are assessed in TIMSS?
  
• How many U.S. schools and students participated in previous TIMSS cycles?
• How does TIMSS select a representative sample of students?
  
• Have there been changes in the countries participating in TIMSS?
  
• If the makeup of the countries changes across the years, how can one compare countries to the TIMSS scale average?
  
• How do the results of TIMSS compare with the results in PISA?
  
• How does the mathematics and science achievement of U.S. students on TIMSS compare with achievement on NAEP?
  
• Can you directly compare TIMSS scores at grade 4 to scores at grade 8?
  
• On TIMSS, why do U.S. boys outperform girls in mathematics at grade 4 but not at grade 8, and U.S. boys outperform girls in science at grade 8 but not at grade 4? Why aren't differences between the sexes more consistent?
  
• When are TIMSS data collected?
  
• Where can I get a copy of the TIMSS U.S. Report?
  
• When is TIMSS scheduled to be administered next?
  

How many U.S. schools and students participated in previous TIMSS cycles?

At grade 4

Assessment year	Number of participating schools	Number of participating students	Overall weighted response rate (percent)
1995	182	7,296	80
2003	248	9,829	78
2007	257	7,896	84

At grade 8

Assessment year	Number of participating schools	Number of participating students	Overall weighted response rate (percent)
1995	183	7,087	78
1999	221	9,072	85
2003	232	8,912	73
2007	239	7,377	77

NOTE: The overall weighted response rate is the product of the school participation rate, after replacement, and the student participation rate, after replacement. There was no grade 4 assessment in 1999.

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