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Table 2. Average mathematics scores of 4th-grade students, by education system: 2011

Grade 4
Education system   Average score
TIMSS scale average   500  
Singapore1   606
Korea, Rep. of   605
Hong Kong-CHN1   602
Chinese Taipei-CHN   591
Japan   585
Northern Ireland-GBR2   562
Belgium (Flemish)-BEL   549
Finland   545  
England-GBR   542  
Russian Federation   542  
United States1   541  
Netherlands2   540  
Denmark1   537  
Lithuania1,3   534
Portugal   532
Germany   528
Ireland   527
Serbia1   516
Australia   516
Hungary   515
Slovenia   513
Czech Republic   511
Austria   508
Italy   508
Slovak Republic   507
Sweden   504
Kazakhstan1   501
Malta   496
Norway4   495
Croatia1   490
New Zealand   486
Spain   482
Romania   482
Poland   481
Turkey   469
Azerbaijan1,5   463
Chile   462
Thailand   458
Armenia   452
Georgia3,5   450
Bahrain   436
United Arab Emirates   434
Iran, Islamic Rep. of   431
Qatar1   413
Saudi Arabia   410
Oman6   385
Tunisia6   359
Kuwait3,7   342
Morocco7   335
Yemen7   248
       
Benchmarking education systems      
North Carolina-USA1,3   554
Florida-USA3,8   545  
Quebec-CAN   533
Ontario-CAN   518
Alberta-CAN1   507
Dubai-UAE   468
Abu Dhabi-UAE   417
△ Average score is higher than U.S. average score.
▽ Average score is lower than U.S. average score.
1 National Defined Population covers 90 to 95 percent of National Target Population (see appendix A).
2 Met guidelines for sample participation rates only after replacement schools were included.
3 National Target Population does not include all of the International Target Population (see appendix A).
4 Nearly satisfied guidelines for sample participation rates after replacement schools were included.
5 Exclusion rates for Azerbaijan and Georgia are slightly underestimated as some conflict zones were not covered and no official statistics were available.
6 The TIMSS International Study Center has reservations about the reliability of the average achievement score because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeds 15 percent, though it is less than 25 percent.
7 The TIMSS International Study Center has reservations about the reliability of the average achievement score because the percentage of students with achievement too low for estimation exceeds 25 percent.
8 National Defined Population covers less than 90 percent, but at least 77 percent, of National Target Population (see appendix A).
NOTE: Education systems are ordered by 2011 average score. Italics indicate participants identified and counted in this report as an education system and not as a separate country. Participants that did not administer TIMSS at the target grade are not shown; see the international report for their results. All U.S. state data are based on public school students only. All average scores reported as higher or lower than the U.S. average score are different at the05 level of statistical significance. The tests for significance take into account the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one education system may be significant while a large difference between the United States and another education system may not be significant. The standard errors of the estimates are shown in table E-1 available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2013009rev.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2011.