EDUCATION INDICATORS: An International Perspective

Indicator 8: Achievement in Mathematics and Science

To meet the challenges of the technological age, U.S. policymakers have focused increasing attention on developing a mathematically and scientifically literate populace beginning with early education. Comparing the scores of 9- and 13-year-old students in different countries on an assessment of mathematics and science proficiency enables the United States to gauge its performance in these crucial areas against that of its economic competitors and predict the competency of students emerging from our schools. Factors that may contribute to differences in scores across countries include time spent studying the subjects, both in and out of school; correspondence of the test questions with the curriculum to which students are exposed; and quality and method of instruction.

Sidebar: Curricular requirements: mathematics

U.S. students compared more favorably with their counterparts in other countries on the assessment of science achievement than they did on the mathematics assessment. Among 9-year-olds, students from no other country but Korea scored significantly higher, on average, than U.S. students on the science assessment./1, /2 Among 13-year-olds, the average science proficiency score of U.S. students was comparable to those of students in Canada, France, Ireland, Israel, Scotland, and Spain, and higher than the scores for Jordan.
In the 1991 mathematics assessment, only 9-year-olds in Slovenia and 13-year-olds in Jordan and Spain scored approximately the same or lower than their U.S. counterparts. Nine- and 13-year-olds in the United States scored below students in the same age groups in the other participating countries. Korean students scored highest among the 9-year-olds, and Taiwanese, Korean, and Swiss students scored highest among the 13-year-olds.
The difference in scores between the highest scoring students (the 99th percentile) and the lowest scoring students (the 1st percentile) was either similar or, in most cases, greater in the United States than in other countries on both assessments. According to this measure, however, Taiwan and Korea, high-scoring countries on both assessments for both age groups, had similar disparities.

Table 8a: Average proficiency scores /1 in mathematics and science, by age and country: 1991 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

                        Mathematics                         Science
			 ----------------------			-------------------------
Country			  Age 9		 Age 13			  Age 9		  Age 13
G-72
Canada			430 (1.5)	513 (1.4)		437 (1.9)	533 (1.6)
France			    -		519 (1.8)		    -		532 (2.5)
United States		420 (3.2)	494 (2.9)		446 (4.6)	521 (4.4)
Other
Hungary			452 (1.9)	529 (2.0)		438 (2.4)	553 (2.5)
Ireland			426 (2.3)	509 (2.0)		401 (3.4)	510 (2.5)
Israel			442 (2.1)	517 (1.8)		431 (3.1)	534 (2.8)
Jordan			    -		458 (2.6)		    -		473 (3.3)
Korea			473 (1.8)	542 (1.9)		460 (2.3)	571 (2.3)
Scotland		    -	        511 (2.0)		    -	        530 (2.8)
Slovenia		413 (1.4)	504 (1.7)		403 (2.2)	537 (2.2)
Soviet Union (former)	447 (3.3)	533 (2.2)		434 (5.1)	541 (3.5)
Spain			432 (2.9)	495 (1.8)		430 (3.6)	525 (2.3)
Switzerland		    -		539 (2.7)		    -	        562 (3.6)
Taiwan			454 (2.2)	545 (2.0)		456 (2.7)	563 (1.9)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Did not participate in assessment or were excluded (see NOTE).
1/ Standard errors are in parentheses.
2/ No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

NOTE: Proficiency scores range from 0 to 1000. The mean proficiency score for all participating populations (9- and 13-year-olds together) is 500 and the standard deviation is 100. Only countries in which the test-taking samples represented comprehensive student populations were included. Brazil, China, England, Portugal, and Scotland (9-year-olds only) were not reported since they either excluded groups or had participation rates below .70. See supplemental note to Indicator 8 for details on population exclusions.

SOURCE: Educational Testing Service, International Assessment of Educational Progress, 1992.

Table 8b: Percentile scores in mathematics, by age and country: 1991 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	                                            Percentile scores
			----------------------------------------------------------------------------
	 				Age 9				  	Age 13
			------------------------------------	------------------------------------		
			1st	10th	Median	90th	99th	1st	10th	Median	90th	99th
G-7*
Canada			296	363	435	490	537	400	462	515	564	608
France			 -	 -	 -	 -	 -	404	460	521	574	616
United States		278	333	427	492	549	366	430	495	554	616
Other
Hungary			312	379	455	520	573	401	465	531	588	639
Ireland			273	345	433	493	545	381	449	514	565	614
Israel			310	373	445	504	555	396	462	520	567	607
Jordan			 -	 -	 -	 -	 -	345	390	459	520	568
Korea			334	407	475	534	586	390	470	545	609	665
Scotland		 -	 -	 -	 -	 -	400	454	513	564	604
Slovenia 		303	355	417	467	508	407	445	507	556	599
Soviet Union (former)	310	374	450	514	579	413	477	536	584	629
Spain			287	353	437	499	551	390	446	496	542	577
Switzerland		 -	 -	 -	 -	 -	443	491	542	586	631
Taiwan			304	384	457	521	571	368	454	550	631	694
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Did not participate in assessment or were excluded (see NOTE for Table 8a).

*No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

NOTE: Proficiency scores range from 0 to 1000. The mean proficiency score for all participating populations (9- and 13-year-olds together) is 500 and the standard deviation is 100.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 1995, Washington, D.C.: 1995, Indicator 18.

Table 8c: Percentile scores in science, by age and country: 1991 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

	                                     	Percentile scores
                                                ----------------------
					Age 9					Age 13
			------------------------------------	------------------------------------
			1st	10th	Median	90th	99th	1st	10th	Median	90th	99th
G-7*
Canada			257	346	443	517	582	384	460	534	606	670
France			 -	 -	 -	 -	 -	370	442	534	611	677
United States		235	328	453	543	605	334	436	523	601	665
Other
Hungary			270	360	441	511	567	386	467	555	639	717
Ireland			221	289	408	496	561	334	418	511	594	668
Israel			247	337	430	524	595	379	449	536	614	676
Jordan			 -	 -	 -	 -	 - 	292	375	480	557	628
Korea			303	383	460	541	609	395	490	575	648	710
Scotland		 -	 -	436	 -	 -	363	441	532	611	674
Slovenia		262	325	405	478	528	398	461	539	615	671
Soviet Union (former)	284	356	433	515	588	383	465	545	612	661
Spain			250	334	435	522	567	380	453	524	596	663
Switzerland		 -	 -	 - 	 -	 -	408	491	566	637	701
Taiwan			254	359	458	553	627	339	463	572	655	715
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-Did not participate or were excluded (See NOTE for Table 8a).

*No data available for Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom.

NOTE: Proficiency scores range from 0 to 1000. The mean proficiency score for all participating populations (9- and 13-year-olds together) is 500 and the standard deviation is 100.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 1995, Washington, D.C.: 1995, Indicator 19.

Figure 8a: Average proficiency scores in mathematics, by age and selected country:* 1991

*Countries are sorted in descending order by average proficiency score.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 1995, Washington, D.C.: 1995, Indicator 18.

Figure 8b: Average proficiency scores in science, by age and selected country:* 1991

*Countries are sorted in descending order by average proficiency score.

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, The Condition of Education, 1995, Washington, D.C.: 1995, Indicator 19.

Footnotes

1/ Tests of significance were performed with the Bonferroni procedure using 9 comparisons at the age 9 level and 13 comparisons at the age 13 level based on the number of countries with data available at the different age levels.

2/ Students in Taiwan also scored higher than U.S. students, but the difference was not great enough to be considered statistically significant.

See Supplemental Notes on Figure and Table

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