IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS)
provides information to improve teaching and learning in mathematics
and science. TIMSS assesses achievement in mathematics and
science at the fourth and eighth grades and collects a rich array of
background information to address concerns about school resources
and the quality of curriculum and instruction. Conducted every four
years on a regular cycle, TIMSS provides countries with an unprecedented
opportunity to measure progress in educational achievement
in mathematics and science.
As a project of the International Association for the Evaluation of
Educational Achievement (IEA), TIMSS has the benefit of drawing on
the cooperative expertise provided by representatives from countries
all around the world. The IEA is an independent international cooperative
of national research institutions and government agencies that
has been conducting studies of cross-national achievement since 1959.
As of 2005, IEA had 62 institutional members.
TIMSS 2007 is the most recent in the series of IEA studies to
measure trends in students’ mathematics and science achievement.
The first cycle of TIMSS was in 1995 in 41 countries. The second cycle
in 1999 involved 38 countries (26 were able to measure trends). Continuing
the regular cycle of studies at four-year intervals, TIMSS 2003
involved more than 50 countries and approximately 60 countries are
expected to participate in TIMSS 2007. Nearly 40 of these countries will
have trend data, some covering more than a decade back to 1995.
Additionally, to provide each participating country with an
extensive resource for interpreting the results and to track changes
in curriculum and instructional practices, TIMSS asks students, their
teachers, and their school principals to complete questionnaires about
the contexts for learning mathematics and science. TIMSS also collects
detailed information about the mathematics and science curricula
in each country. Trend data from these questionnaires provide
a dynamic picture of changes in the implementation of educational
policies and practices and help to raise new issues relevant to improvement
efforts. 4 Introduction
TIMSS data have had an enduring impact on reform and development
efforts in mathematics and science education around the world,
leading on one hand to continuing demand for trend data to monitor
development and on the other to a need for more and better policyrelevant
information to guide and evaluate new initiatives.