TIMSS Test Items
TIMSS (current)
TIMSS has just released the item sets for their
achievement tests. Follow the above link to view sample math and science problems
for fourth-, eighth-, and twelfth-graders. International
Comparisons in Education
National Center for Education Statistics (current)
As part of its mandate from Congress, this division
of the U.S. Department of Education supports and conducts international educational
comparisons in order to report reliable data on a variety of subjects. Some of the latest
studies available on the NCES Web site involve math and science achievement, student
reading achievement, adult literacy, and civic education.
OECD Program for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development (current)
This regular survey of
15-year-olds from the U.S. and 31 other nations attempt to gauge students' readiness for
adult life at the end of compulsory education. Although the first assessments are
closely related to academic subjects (see
sample items from the 2000 reading, math and science assessment; requires Adobe Acrobat
Reader), PISA will also concentrate on the value of the skills acquired to
continuing education and life beyond the school gates.
TIMSS Resource Page from the AFT
American Federation of Teachers (2000)
Released in 1997, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study presented
the U.S. and the rest of the world with some of the most comprehensive international
educational comparisons to date. The AFT's resource page presents news, research,
policy reports and editorials pertaining to the TIMSS study and its impact on the way we
view our education system, subject standards and the way we teach.
The Teaching Gap
James W. Stigler & James Hiebert (1999)
This book, supported with a grant from the Albert Shanker Institute (read the press
release) explores the school
system's failure to support a culture of professional development for teachers. It
compares what's lacking in teacher training in this country with what's working in Japan,
where teachers spend time working together to improve their skills.
Learning from
the TIMSS: Results from the
Third International Mathematics and Science Study
National Research Council (1997)
What exactly is the Third International Mathematics and Science Study and what does it
mean for our schools? In 1997, a symposium was held to answer these questions and to
initiate a discussion in hopes of advancing reform. This conference summary opens with a
detailed look at the very complex nature of TIMSS. It also includes questions that were
raised about the study and certain policy issues that were addressed. The symposium’s
major themes are also presented.
Executive Summary: What
Students Abroad Are
Expected to Know About Mathematics
American Federation of Teachers (1997)
This 1997 report by the AFT and the National Center for Improving Science Education
(NCISE) shows much larger percentages of students in France, Germany, and Japan taking and
passing demanding math exams than their American Counterparts. The report examines the
French brevet, the German Realschule exam, and the Tokyo prefecture high
school entrance exam. Also compared are the various college entrance examinations
administered in each country: the French baccalaureat, the German Abitur,
the Tokyo University entrance examination and the SAT I, AP, and SAT II exams.
Press Release: What
College-Bound Students Abroad Are
Expected to Know About Chemistry and Physics
American Federation of Teachers (1996)
The AFT/NCISE report, What College-Bound Students Abroad Are Expected to Know About
Chemistry and Physics, illustrates how an integrated system of a common curriculum,
exams based on that curriculum, and incentives for students lead to substantial
proportions of students mastering demanding material.
Press Release: What
College-Bound Students Abroad Are
Expected to Know About Science
American Federation of Teachers (1996)
Press release with the findings of a report that analyzes the actual exams taken
by students in the U.S., France, Germany, Japan and Great Britain.
Defining World Class Standards Series
American Federation of Teachers (1994)
In this series, the AFT compares the youth of America to the rest of the world. This AFT
mission statement announces its research of academic standards in foreign school systems.
Using foreign standards as a measure of for what has been successful and what has not,
American schools should be able to undertake reform initiatives with increased confidence.
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