Science Achievement of Fourth- and Eighth-Graders in 2007

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Comparisons of the science achievement of fourth-graders in 2007 are made among the 36 participating countries. Comparisons of the science achievement of eighth-graders in 2007 are made among the 48 participating countries.

In 2007, the average science scores of both U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students were higher than the TIMSS scale averages.

• U.S. fourth-graders scored 539, on average, in science, which was higher than the TIMSS scale average of 500 (table 3).
• The average U.S. fourth-grade science score was higher than those in 25 of the 35 other countries, lower than in 4 countries (all of them in Asia), and not measurably different from 6 countries.
• U.S. eighth-graders scored 520, on average, in science, which was higher than the TIMSS scale average of 500 (table 3).
• The average U.S. eighth-grade science score was higher than those in 35 of the 47 other countries, lower than in 9 countries (all of them in Asia or Europe), and not measurably different from 3 countries.

In 2007, there were higher percentages of U.S. fourth- and eighth-graders performing at or above intermediate, high, and advanced TIMSS international benchmarks in science than the international medians of the percentages performing at each level. In addition, there were a higher percentage of U.S. eighth-graders performing at or above the low TIMSS benchmark in science than the international median in 2007.

• Fifteen percent of U.S. fourth-graders performed at or above the advanced benchmark in science compared to the international median of 7 percent (figure 3).
• Two countries had higher percentages of fourth-grade students performing at or above the advanced international science benchmark than the United States: Chinese Taipei (19 percent) and Singapore (36 percent) (figure 4).
• Ten percent of U.S. eighth-graders performed at or above the advanced benchmark in science compared to the international median of 3 percent (figure 3).
• Six countries had higher percentages of eighth-grade students performing at or above the advanced international science benchmark than the United States. The percentages in these countries ranged from 13 percent in Hungary to 32 percent in Singapore (figure 4).

Tables and Figures

• Table 3 — Average science scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students, by country: 2007
• Figure 3 — Percentage of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students who reached each TIMSS international science benchmark compared with the international median percentage: 2007
• Figure 4 — Percentage of fourth- and eighth-grade students who reached the TIMSS advanced international benchmark in science, by country: 2007

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