The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) represents the most extensive investigation of mathematics and science education ever conducted. The study is sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and funded in the U.S. by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Approximately 50 countries have participated in this comparative survey of education focusing upon nine-year old students, thirteen-year old students, and students in their last year of secondary schools. For the oldest students, TIMSS analyses considered three groups: a cross-section of all students completing their last year of secondary education, i.e., a "literacy" sample; mathematics specialists, i.e., those students studying or having studied calculus; and science specialists, those students studying or having studied physics.
TIMSS went well beyond traditional comparative assessments by including a comprehensive analysis of textbooks and curriculum guides, investigations of instructional practices, students' classroom perceptions, interest, and motivation, and various influences on curricular organization and student learning. All curriculum analysis data are currently available. Questionnaire and assessment data for thirteen-year-old students is also currently available. Questionnaire and assessment data for nine-year-olds will be available in late spring of 1997; questionnaire and assessment data for students in the last year of secondary school is anticipated to be available the beginning of 1998. Following are brief descriptions of the type of data available from the various aspects of TIMSS.
Curriculum Analysis
A content analysis of textbooks and state curriculum guides detailed the specific topics, student performance expectations, and perspectives encouraged. Curriculum guides from at least 15 different states and multiple texts were examined for each of the three student age groups: four mathematics and three science textbooks for nine-year-olds; three general mathematics, one algebra and three science textbooks for thirteen-year-olds; and two calculus and two physics textbooks.
Student Assessments
Student assessments for both mathematics and science contained multiple choice, short answer, and extended response items. International scoring rubrics for short answer and extended response items defined multiple categories of correct and incorrect responses. All short answer and extended response items, as well as over half of the multiple choice items for both mathematics and science, have been released allowing detailed in-depth discussion and analyses. Released items are available for viewing at the TIMSS International Study Center web site.
In addition, some countries, including the U.S., participated in the performance assessments which measured students' responses to hands-on, practical tasks. The TIMSS performance assessments were conducted with subsamples of the nine-year-old and thirteen-year-old students participating in the main TIMSS survey. There were five tasks each for science and mathematics and two tasks that combined mathematics and science for a total of twelve tasks.
Student Questionnaires
Students responded to questions about the type and amount of homework assigned, typical classroom instructional practices, their interest in and motivations for doing well in school subjects, as well as their home environment. In addition, students in their last year of secondary school were asked a series of questions about their future career and education plans.
Teacher Questionnaires
Teachers responded to general questions about their academic background, official work schedule, familiarity and use of official documents and guides, their ideas about mathematics and science, and pedagogical approaches to two specific situations. With respect to the specific class from which students were tested for TIMSS, more specific questions were asked: specific topic coverage goals, typical lesson profile, assignment and use of homework, use of student work groups, types and purposes of classroom assessment, and characterizations of students' opportunities to learn specific TIMSS items. Teacher questionnaires were administered only to those teaching the two younger student age groups.
School Questionnaires
School administrators responded to questions about the school's staff, the locus of responsibility for various decisions, students' behavior, course offering and student tracking, instructional time, and course assignment/graduation criteria. School questionnaires were administered to those representing all three student age groups.
