Mathematics and Science

• Countries
  • East Asian countries were the top performers in Grades 4 and 8 in mathematics.
  • Singapore and Korea were the top achievers in fourth-grade science; Japan, the Russian Federation, and Hong Kong SAR were also among the top five.
  • Singapore was the top achiever in science, followed by Japan, Chinese Taipei, Korea, and Slovenia.
  • A very high percentage of East Asian students met or exceeded the TIMSS international benchmarks.
• Achievement and gender
  • Boys had higher mathematics achievement in more countries than girls.
  • No difference was found between boys and girls in science achievement in more than half the countries.
• Trend (1995–2015)
  • In both grades the trends show increases in mathematics and science achievements around the world.
  • More students than ever were able to reach the highest levels of achievement.
  • Twenty-year trends show a reduction in boys’ advantage in science achievement.
  • Curricula have changed across the globe over the course of 20 years of TIMSS testing.

Context for education

• Parents and home resources
  • Students whose parents reported often spending time with them on early literacy and numeracy learning activities had higher levels of mathematics and science achievement at the fourth grade.
  • Students whose parents reported many home resources for learning had higher levels of achievement than students whose parents reported some or few resources.

• Teachers and teaching; principals
  • Teachers had a high degree of job satisfaction.
  • Teachers and principals reported high levels of education and considerable experience.
  • Instructional time remains a crucial resource in considering students’ opportunity to learn, even though there are many factors that influence the effectiveness of an educational system. There was considerable range in the yearly number of instructional hours in mathematics.

• Student (preprimary) preparation and attitudes toward learning
  • There was a positive relationship for fourth-grade students between the number of years students attended preprimary education programs and their mathematics and science achievement.
  • Students in the fourth grade performed better in schools where entering students have already acquired key skills.
  • Students start out confident in mathematics and science at the fourth grade, but that feeling erodes by the eighth grade.
  • Most students felt they fit in at school.
  • Students liked their mathematics and science instruction—a lot.

• School environments and safety
  • In nearly all TIMSS 2015 countries, students attending schools with more affluent than disadvantaged students had higher average mathematics and science achievement scores.
  • Generally, students were in positive school environments according to their principals, teachers, and the students themselves
  • With the emergence of cyberbullying, school-related bullying is a growing concern.
  • Schools have become safer places overall.