Mathematics and Science

• Countries (average achievement)
  • In mathematics at Grades 4 and 8, East Asian countries were the top performers. Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Korea, Japan, and Hong Kong SAR outperformed the other countries by a substantial margin.
  • In science at both grades, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Korea, and Japan performed well and were joined by the Russian Federation, and Finland.
• International benchmarks
  • Across countries, only small percentages of students reached the Advanced International Benchmark.
  • Top performing countries had highest percentages of students reaching the advanced level.
  • Most TIMSS countries are educated high percentages of their students to at least the Low International Benchmark
• Trend
  • In both grades, more countries had increases than declines in average mathematics and science achievements in both the long term (since 1995 or 2007, respectively) and the short term (since 2015); the exception was fourth grade science where there were as many declines as improvements in the short term (2015–2019).
• Achievement and gender
  • There was gender equity in average mathematics and science achievement in almost half of the countries.
  • Boys had higher mathematics achievement in more countries than girls in fourth grade.
  • Girls had higher science achievement in 18 countries at the fourth grade and 15 countries at the eighth grade.

Context for education

• Parents, home resources and early activities
  • Students with many home resources for learning (e.g., books, internet access) and parents with higher levels of education had higher average achievement in mathematics and a science at both grades.
  • Students whose parents often engaged them in early literacy and numeracy activities at home had higher levels of mathematics and science achievement on average at the Grade 4 than did students whose parents never or almost never did.
  • Grade 4 students showed higher achievement, on average, when they had attended preprimary education or when they entered primary school with already acquired literacy and numeracy skills.
• Attitudes toward learning
  • A liking for learning mathematics and science, respectively, was strongly associated with higher average achievement at both grades. The percentage of students who did not like learning mathematics or science, respectively, was higher in eighth grade than fourth grade.
  • A feeling of confidence in mathematics or science, respectively, was also strongly associated with higher average achievement at both grades. The percentage of students who were not confident in mathematics or science was higher in eighth grade than fourth grade.
  • Valuing mathematics or science, respectively, was associated with higher average achievement. Most eighth-grade students reported valuing mathematics or science, respectively, at least somewhat.
• Teachers and teaching
  • Higher student achievement was associated with greater clarity of instruction in both subjects and grades.
  • More fourth grade students reported a high clarity of instruction than eighth grade students.
  • Teachers reported a sizable gap between their professional development needs and their recent professional development opportunities when asked about integrating technology into instruction and improving students’ critical thinking skills.
• Technology for instruction
  • There was wide variation across countries in computer availability. Having computers available for instruction was associated with higher achievement, on average, in both mathematics and science and at both grades.
  • Teachers reported doing computer activities more frequently in science lessons than in mathematics lessons.
  • Though few students were in classes where computers were used on a frequent basis, there was a substantial range across countries.
• School environment
  • Students attending schools with fewer resource shortages had higher average achievement in mathematics and science at both grades.
  • Students attending schools with a higher emphasis on academic success had higher average achievement in mathematics and science at both grades.
  • Students with a high sense of school belonging had higher average mathematics and science achievement at both grades.
  • Students who attended schools with fewer discipline problems and safer and more orderly environments had higher average achievement in mathematics and science at both grades.
  • Students who reported experiencing bullying on a weekly basis had considerably lower average achievement than students bullied monthly or never or almost never.