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Colorado's 2011 TIMSS Results in Grade 8 Mathematics: A Summary


Summary

  • Public school students’ average score was 518 at grade 8.
  • Higher percentages of Colorado 8th-graders performed at or above each of the four TIMSS international benchmarks than the international medians. For example, 8 percent of 8th-graders in Colorado performed at or above the Advanced benchmark (625) compared to the international median of 3 percent at grade 8 (see figure 4, Highlights from TIMSS 2011).
  • Male and female students in Colorado scored higher, on average, in mathematics than the TIMSS scale average (table 2).
  • White and Asian students’ average scores were higher than the TIMSS scale average, while Hispanic students scored lower, on average, than the TIMSS scale average.
  • Students in public schools with at least 10 percent but 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 schools with 75 percent or more 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.

Excel FileExcel Version
Table 1. Average mathematics scores of 8th-grade students in Colorado public schools compared with other participating education systems: 2011
 
Education systems higher than Colorado
Korea, Rep. of Massachusetts-USA
Singapore Minnesota-USA
Chinese Taipei-CHN Russian Federation
Hong Kong-CHN North Carolina-USA
Japan Quebec-CAN
 
Education systems not measurably different from Colorado
Indiana-USA Ontario-CAN
Connecticut-USA United States
Israel England-GBR
Finland Australia
Florida-USA
 
Education systems lower than Colorado
Alberta-CAN Abu Dhabi-UAE
Hungary Malaysia
Slovenia Georgia
Lithuania Thailand
Italy Macedonia, Rep. of
California-USA Tunisia
New Zealand Chile
Kazakhstan Iran, Islamic Rep. of
Sweden Qatar
Ukraine Bahrain
Dubai-UAE Jordan
Norway Palestinian Nat'l Auth.
Armenia Saudi Arabia
Alabama-USA Indonesia
Romania Syrian Arab Republic
United Arab Emirates Morocco
Turkey Oman
Lebanon Ghana
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2011.
Table 2. Average mathematics scores in grade 8 for selected student groups in public schools in Colorado: 2011
 
Reporting groups Average score
TIMSS scale average 500
U.S. average 509 *
Colorado average 518 *
Sex
Female 516 *
Male 520 *
Race/ethnicity
White 544 *
Black 487
Hispanic 480 *
Asian 545 *
Multiracial 522
Percentage of public school students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch
Less than 10 percent 507
10 to 24.9 percent 547 *
25 to 49.9 percent 534 *
50 to 74.9 percent 491
75 percent or more 460 *
*p<.05. Difference between score and TIMSS scale average is significant.
NOTE: Black includes African American and Hispanic includes Latino. Racial categories exclude Hispanic origin. Not all race/ethnicity categories are shown, but they are all included in the U.S. and state totals shown throughout the report. The standard errors of the estimates are shown in table E-13 available at http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfor.asp?pubid=2013009.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2011.