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IntroductionDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, measures were taken that had a considerable impact on the situation in schools. In Germany, these measures lasted more than a year and ranged from school closures and distance learning to alternating teaching phases with small groups. In the present study, we examined whether third-grade students’ mathematics performance changed in different content domains before and after the COVID-19-related changes in school.MethodsIn a repeated cross-sectional design, we compared two cohorts of third graders (2019: N = 1,905; 2021: N = 3,203) based on standardized mathematics tests, constructed according to the German National Educational Standards, which allowed for a differential competence diagnostic for five content domains. Generalized linear mixed models were used to model item and person properties and assess their effects on performance.ResultsThere was a significant drop in performance overall. While the drop in the content domain Numbers & Operations was smaller than the overall drop in performance, the content domains Space & Shape and Data, Frequency, Probability were more affected.DiscussionThe findings of this study may be explained by the results of numerous surveys of students, teachers, and parents, which indicated that a lot of time was spent on exercises and reproduction tasks during distance learning.

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a comparative international assessment study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). TIMSS aims to study how educational opportunities are provided for students and what factors are associated with these opportunities. The purpose of this study was to examine the student factors in the United Arab Emirates that have an association with grade 4 students' TIMSS 2015 results in the content and cognitive domains in the subjects of mathematics and science. The study adopted the quantitative research approach through the data analysis of TIMSS 2015 for grade 4 students in these subjects. The study sample consisted of 21,177 students enrolled in 372 UAE private schools and 186 public schools. The percentage of grade 4 girls who participated in the study was 48%, while the percentage of boys was 52%. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the most influential student factors that impact on science and maths achievement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented to examine the relationships between student factors and the content and cognitive domains of mathematics and science in the TIMSS 2015 results. The findings showed that the student factors with a positive association with student achievement were having breakfast on school days, engaging teaching in mathematics lessons, liking learning science, and confidence in mathematics and science. There was a non-significant correlation between gender and mathematics and science achievement. A surprising finding was that "liking learning mathematics" had a negative association with student performance in that subject. There was a positive association between student engagement and mathematics achievement, while the association between the engagement in science lessons and student performance was found to be insignificant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is a comparative international assessment study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). TIMSS aims to study how educational opportunities are provided for students and what factors are associated with these opportunities. The purpose of this study was to examine the student factors in the United Arab Emirates that have an association with grade 4 students’ TIMSS 2015 results in the content and cognitive domains in the subjects of mathematics and science. The study adopted the quantitative research approach through the data analysis of TIMSS 2015 for grade 4 students in these subjects. The study sample consisted of 21,177 students enrolled in 372 UAE private schools and 186 public schools. The percentage of grade 4 girls who participated in the study was 48%, while the percentage of boys was 52%. A multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to examine the most influential student factors that impact on science and maths achievement. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was implemented to examine the relationships between student factors and the content and cognitive domains of mathematics and science in the TIMSS 2015 results. The findings showed that the student factors with a positive association with student achievement were having breakfast on school days, engaging teaching in mathematics lessons, liking learning science, and confidence in mathematics and science. There was a non-significant correlation between gender and mathematics and science achievement. A surprising finding was that “liking learning mathematics” had a negative association with student performance in that subject. There was a positive association between student engagement and mathematics achievement, while the association between the engagement in science lessons and student performance was found to be insignificant.

In this study, Turkish fifth-grade bursary examination mathematics items, all of which are of multiple choice, from years 1999 to 2018 are analyzed based on the cognitive and content domains of TIMSS 2019 assessment framework. According to document analysis of the data collected through official website of Ministry of National Education, the distribution of the cognitive demands of all items indicates that there is an emphasis on applying or reasoning domain with about 74%. This result leads to the conclusion that Turkish fifth-grade mathematics items require upper cognitive demands comparing with TIMSS target percentages. Also, it is observed that there are dramatic changes in cognitive demands of the items from year to year which may mean that there is no framework followed for the bursary examinations. Examining the content domains of the bursary examination, findings reveal that the majority of the items are in numbers (60%), and it is followed by measurement and geometry (34%), and data (6%), which are similar with the target percentages of TIMSS 2019 that are 50, 35, and 15 respectively. Finally, suggestions are given in the light of findings and educational reforms in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This article investigates changes in gender differences evident in the performance of grade 8th grade students participating in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) between 1995 and 2003. Gender specific results and patterns found in TIMSS 1995 were compared with later cycles of the study in order to address the question of how far the mathematics and science gender gap has narrowed over time. Using a regression approach to compare the trend data, the findings indicated no major changes for mathematics but it appears that the gap in science may be closing, especially in the previously male dominated content areas of chemistry and physics. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]