Science Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Report

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Executive Summary

Introduction

Chapter 1: International Student Achievement in Science

Chapter 2: Average Achievement in the Science Content Areas

Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Science Content Area

Chapter 4: Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards the Sciences

Chapter 5: Teachers and Instruction

Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures

Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Appendix C: Selected Science Achievement Results for the Philippines

Appendix D: Selected Science Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German Speaking) - Eighth Grade

Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Science Achievement

Appendix F: Acknowledgments


Adobe PDF icon Table of Contents (PDF format, includes page numbers)

Adobe PDF icon Executive Summary

Adobe PDF icon Introduction

Table 1: Countries Participating in TIMSS

Table 2: Information About the Grades Tested

How Do Country Characteristics Differ?

Table 3: Selected Demographic Characteristics of TIMSS Countries

Table 4: Public Expenditure on Education at Primary and Secondary Levels in TIMSS Countries

Figure 1: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Curriculum Syllabi

Figure 2: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Textbooks

Figure 3: Centralization of Decision-Making Regarding Examinations

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 1 : International Student Achievement in Science

Table 1.1: Distributions of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 1.1: Multiple Comparisons of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 1.2: Distributions of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Figure 1.2: Multiple Comparisons of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table 1.4: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 1.5: Percentages of Students Achieving International Marker Levels in the Sciences - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table 1.6: Gender Differences in Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table 1.7: Gender Differences in Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table 1.8: Median Achievement in the Sciences: 13-Year-Old Students

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 2 : Average Achievement in the Science Content Areas

Table 2.1: Average Percent Correct by Science Content Areas - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table 2.2: Average Percent Correct by Science Content Areas - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table 2.3: Profiles of Relative Performance in Science Content Areas - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 2.1: Difference in Average Percent Correct Between Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades) Overall and in Science Content Areas

Table 2.4: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Science Content Areas - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 2.5: Average Percent Correct for Boys and Girls by Science Content Areas - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 3: Performance on Items Within Each Science Content Area

Table 3.1: Percent Correct for Earth Science Example Items -
Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.1: International Difficulty Map for Earth Science
Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Earth Science Example Items

Table 3.2: Percent Correct for Life Science Example Items - Lower and
Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.2: International Difficulty Map for Life Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Life Science Example Items

Table 3.3: Percent Correct for Physics Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.3: International Difficulty Map for Physics Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Physics Example Items

Table 3.4: Percent Correct for Chemistry Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.4: International Difficulty Map for Chemistry Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Chemistry Example Items

Table 3.5: Percent Correct for Environmental Issues and the Nature of Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Figure 3.5: International Difficulty Map for Environmental Issues and the Nature of Science Example Items - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 4 : Students' Backgrounds and Attitudes Towards Science

Table 4.1: Students' Reports on Educational Aids in the Home: Dictionary, Study Desk/Table, and Computer - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.2: Students' Reports on the Number of Books in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.3: Students' Reports on the Highest Level of Education of Either Parent - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.1: Country Modifications to the Definitions of Educational Levels for Parents' Highest Level of Education

Table 4.4: Students' Reports on Whether They Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.5: Students' Reports on Whether Their Mothers Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.6: Students' Reports on Whether Their Friends Agree or Strongly Agree That It is Important to Do Various Activities - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.7: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.8: Students' Reports on How They Spend Their Daily Leisure Time -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.9: Students' Reports on Total Amount of Daily Out-of-School Study Time - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.10: Students' Reports on the Hours Spent Each Day Watching
Television and Videos - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)
.

Table 4.11: Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.2: Gender Differences In Students' Self-Perceptions About Usually Doing Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.12: Students' Reports on Things Necessary to Do Well in the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.13: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Get Their Desired Job - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.14: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Get Into Their Preferred University or Secondary School - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.15: Students' Reports on the Need to Do Well in the Sciences to Please Their Parents - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 4.16: Students' Reports on About Liking the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Figure 4.3: Gender Differences in Liking the Sciences - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Chapter 5 : Teachers and Instruction

Table 5.1: Requirements for Certification Held by the Majority of Lower- and Upper-Grade (Seventh- and Eighth-Grade) Teachers

Table 5.2: Teachers' Reports on Their Age and Gender - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.3: Teachers' Reports on Their Years of Teaching Experience - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.1: Percentage of Students Whose Science Teachers Agree or Strongly Agree with Statements About the Nature of Science and Science Teaching - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.2: Percent of Students Whose Science Teachers Think Particular Abilities Are Very Important for Students' Success in Science in School - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table 5.4: Teachers' Reports on the Proportion of Their Formally Scheduled School Time Spent Teaching Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.5: Teachers' Reports on Average Number of Hours Integrated Science Is Taught Weekly to Their Science Classes - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.6: Average Number of Hours Students' Teachers Spend on Various School-Related Activities Outside the Formal School Day During the School Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.7: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Meet with Other Teachers in Their Subject Area to Discuss and Plan Curriculum or Teaching Approaches - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.8: Teachers' Reports on Average Size of Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.3: Teachers' Reports About Classroom Organization During Science Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.9: Teachers' Reports on Their Main Sources of Written Information When Deciding Which Topics to Teach and How to Present a Topic - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Figure 5.4: Teachers' Reports About Using a Textbook in Teaching Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.10: Teachers' Reports on How Often They Ask Students to Do Reasoning Tasks - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.11: Teachers' Reports on Frequency with Which Their Teacher Gives a Demonstration of an Experiment - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.12: Students' Reports on Frequency of Doing an Experiment or Practical Investigation in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.13: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Things from Every Day Life in Solving Science Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.14: Students' Reports on Having a Calculator and Computer in the Home - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.15: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Students' Use of Calculators in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.16: Teachers' Reports on Ways in Which Calculators Are Used at Least Once or Twice a Week - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.17: Students' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Science Class to Solve Excersizes or Problems - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.18: Teachers' Reports on Frequency of Using Computers in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.19: Teachers' Reports About the Amount of Science Homework Assigned - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.20: Teachers' Reports on Their Use of Students' Written Science Homework - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade) .

Table 5.21: Teachers' Reports on the Types of Assessment Given "Quite A Lot" or
"A Great Deal" of Weight in Assessing Students' Work in Science Class - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.22: Teachers' Reports on Ways Assessment Information Is Used "Quite A Lot" or "A Great Deal" - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table 5.23: Students' Reports on Frequency of Having a Quiz or Test in Their Science Lessons - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix A: Overview of TIMSS Procedures: Science Achievement Results for Seventh- and Eighth-Grade Students

Figure A.1: Countries Participating in Additional Components of TIMSS Testing

Figure A.2: The Three Aspects and Major Categories of the Science Framework Table A.1: Distribution of Science Items by Content Reporting Category and Performance Category

Table A.2: Coverage of TIMSS Target Population

Table A.3: Coverage of 13-Year-Old Students

Table A.4: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table A.5: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table A.6: School Participation Rates and Sample Sizes - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)
.

Table A.7: Student Participation Rates and Samples Sizes - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table A.8: Overall Participation Rates - Upper and Lower Grades
(Eighth and Seventh Grades)

Figure A.3: Countries Grouped for Reporting of Achievement According to Their Compliance with Guidelines for Sample Implementation and Participation Rates

Table A.9: TIMSS Within-Country Free-Response Coding Reliability Data
for Population 2 Science Items

Table A.10: Percent Exact Agreement for Coding of Science Items for International and Within-Country Reliability Studies

Table A.11: Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Coefficients - TIMSS Science Test - Lower and Upper Grades (Seventh and Eighth Grades)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix B: The Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis

Table B.1: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.2: Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Table B.3: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table B.4: Standard Errors for the Test-Curriculum Matching Analysis Results - Science - Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix C: Selected Science Achievement Results for The Philippines

Table C.1: Philippines - Selected Science Achievement Results - Unweighted Data

Adobe PDF icon Appendix D: Selected Science Achievement Results for Denmark, Sweden, and Switzerland (German-Speaking) - Eighth Grade

Table D.1: Denmark - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Table D.2: Sweden - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Table D.3: Switzerland (German-Speaking) - Selected Science Achievement Results in the Sciences

Adobe PDF icon Appendix E: Percentiles and Standard Deviations of Science Achievement

Table E.1: Percentiles of Achievement in the Sciences - Upper Grade
(Eighth Grade)

Table E.2: Percentiles of Achievement in the Sciences - Lower Grade
(Seventh Grade)

Table E.3: Standard Deviations of Achievement in the Sciences -
Upper Grade (Eighth Grade)

Table E.4: Standard Deviations of Achievement in the Sciences -
Lower Grade (Seventh Grade)

Adobe PDF icon Appendix F: Acknowledgments

Back to: Science Achievement in the Middle School Years


© 1996 International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA).

Science Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study / by Albert E. Beaton, Ina V.S. Mullis, Michael O. Martin, Eugenio J. Gonzalez, Dana L. Kelly, and Teresa A. Smith

Publisher: Center for the Study of Testing, Evaluation, and Educational Policy,
Boston College.

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 96-71250

ISBN 1-889938-03-3

For more information about TIMSS contact:

The International Study Center
Boston College
Manresa House
140 Commonwealth Ave.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
United States

For information on ordering this report, write the above address
or call +1-617-552-1600

Funding for the international coordination of TIMSS is provided by the U.S. National Center for Education Statistics, the U.S. National Science Foundation, the IEA, and the Canadian government. Each participating country provides funding for the national implementation of TIMSS.


 

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