WHY ARE U.S. STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND THEIR INTERNATIONAL PEERS IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS?

AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON

TIMSS OVERVIEW Third International Mathematics and

Science Study

Who was tested?

Who developed the assessments?

TIMSS RESULTS AND FINDINGS

Fourth Graders

Eighth Graders

Twelfth Graders

Advanced Students

GENERAL INFORMATION Decrease in scores

Undemanding curricula

Poor districts vs. wealthy districts

Top performing countries

MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM

GENERAL DESCRIPTION Shallow Many Topics Limited Instructional Time Unchallenging Repetitious Incoherent

NUMBER OF TOPICS Many more than other TIMSS

Countries

Mad rush to cover all

International comparisons

NUMBER OF NEW TOPICS Decreases as grade level increases 25% new between 4th and 8th grades

in U.S. 75% new between 4th and 8th grades

in top-performing TIMSS countries One new vs. twenty new International comparisons

TEXTBOOKS Large and heavy

Many pages

Breadth and no depth

Contain more topics than other TIMSS countries

CALCULATORS 4TH grade math classes

Used often in low-performing TIMSS countries

Used rarely in high-performing TIMSS countries

DISPERSED CONTROL OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Many different governing bodies Local control No common standard in U.S. Common standards in other TIMSS

countries

MATH PROBLEMS DUE TO LACK OF CONSESUS AND DIFFERING

VIEWS Report released by U. S.

Department of Education

Letter to Department of Education

Endorsers of letter

PROBLEMS WITH THE ENDORSED PROGRAMS

Calculators

Unfocused

De-emphasis of need for arithmetic

Problems with specific programs

RECOMMENDATIONS

National mathematics curriculum

Mathematics programs

Attitude towards mathematics education

REFERENCES Bushweller, K. International comparisons ( 1996). Retrieved June 7, 2007 from

http://www.asbj.com/achievement/aa/aa2.html Cogan, L.S., & Schmidt, W.H.( 1999, Fall). Middle School Math Reform. Middle

Matters, 8, 2 – 3. Retrieved June 7, 2007 from http://ustimss.msu.edu/midmathreform.html

Executive Summary( 1997). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/math/part2.html

Klein, D. Math Problems( 2000). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.hobel.org/lwved/id62.htm

Latest TIMSS Again Shows Curriculum Does Matter( 2001). Retrieved June 7th , 2007 from http://www.ur.msu.edu/media

Middle-School Algebra: Ready or Not ( 2003)? Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr147.shtml

Third International Mathematics and Science Study ( 1999). Retrieved June 8th, 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/timss/

TIMSS Overview and Key Findings Across Grade Levels ( 1998). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math/tmpres2.html

Valverde, G., & Schmidt, W.H. ( 1997, Winter). Refocusing U.S. Math and Science Education. Retrieved June 7, 2007 from http://www.issues.org/14.4/schmid.htm