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The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that allows countries to compare outcomes of learning as students near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA measures the performance of 15-year-old students in science, reading, and mathematics literacy every 3 years. PISA uses the term "literacy" in each subject area to indicate how well students are able to apply their knowledge and skills to problems in a real-life context.

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international comparative study of student achievement. TIMSS 2011 represents the fifth such study since TIMSS was first conducted in 1995. Developed and implemented at the international level by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)--an international organization of national research institutions and governmental research agencies--TIMSS assesses the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of 4th- and 8th-graders. TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and science curricula in the participating countries and education systems. This report focuses on the performance of U.S. students relative to their peers around the world in countries and other education systems that participated in TIMSS 2011. For the purposes of this report, "countries" are complete, independent political entities, whereas "other education systems" represent a portion of a country, nation, kingdom, or emirate or are other non-national entities (e.g., U.S. states, Canadian provinces, Flemish Belgium, and Northern Ireland). In this report, these "other education systems" are designated as such by their national three-letter international abbreviation appended to their name (e.g., England-GBR, Ontario-CAN). This report also examines changes in mathematics and science achievement compared with TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 2007. In 2011, TIMSS was administered at grade 4 in 57 countries and other education systems and, at grade 8, in 56 countries and other education systems. These total counts include U.S. states that participated in TIMSS 2011 not only as part of the U.S. national sample of public and private schools but also individually with state-level public school samples. At grade 4, this was Florida and North Carolina, and at grade 8 this was Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Carolina. Note that, because all TIMSS participants are treated equally, these states are compared with the United States (national sample) throughout this report. All differences described in this report are statistically significant at the 0.05 level. No statistical adjustments to account for multiple comparisons were used. Appended are: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Example Items; (3) TIMSS-NAEP Comparison; and (4) Online Resources and Publications. (Contains 53 tables, 16 figures, 18 exhibits and 48 footnotes.) [For supporting document, "Highlights from TIMSS 2011: Mathematics and Science Achievement of U.S. Fourth- and Eighth-Grade Students in an International Context. Appendix E: Standard Error Tables. NCES 2013-009," see ED537757.]

The 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the fourth administration since 1995 of this international comparison. Developed and implemented at the international level by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)--an international organization of national research institutions and governmental research agencies--TIMSS is used to measure over time the mathematics and science knowledge and skills of fourth- and eighth-graders. TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and science curricula in the participating countries. This report focuses on the performance of U.S. students relative to that of their peers in other countries in 2007, and on changes in mathematics and science achievement since 1995. Thirty-six countries or educational jurisdictions participated at grade four in 2007, while 48 participated at grade eight. This report also describes additional details about the achievement of U.S. student subpopulations. All differences described in this report are statistically significant at the 0.05 level. No statistical adjustments to account for multiple comparisons were used. Appended are: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Example Items; (3) TIMSS-NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress] Comparison; (4) Online Resources and Publications. (Contains 24 tables, 27 figures, 14 exhibits, and 119 footnotes.)

This technical report documents the procedures used to collect and summarize data from the 2005 High School Transcript Study (HSTS 2005). The transcript studies serve as a barometer for changes in high school graduates' course-taking patterns; these patterns provide information about the rigor of high school curricula followed across the nation. Twenty-four appendixes are included: (1) Disclosure Notice; (2) 2005 HSTS School Information Form (SIF); (3) Transcript Request Form (TRF); (4) NAEP [National Assessment of Educational Progress] 2005 Administration Schedule; (5) Documentation of Missing Transcripts; (6) Summary of School Activities; (7) Letter to NAEP School Coordinator; (8) Transcript Format Checklist; (9) Course Catalog Checklist; (10) Shipping Transmittal Form--Phase 2; (11) School Background Questionnaire; (12) 2005 SD [Students with Disabilities] Questionnaire; (13) 2005 LEP [Students with Limited English Proficiency] Questionnaire; (14) Quality Checks for the HSTS Sample: Comparison of the Full HSTS School Sample to the Responding HSTS School Sample; (15) 2005 High School Transcript Study Classification of Secondary School Courses [CSSC] Hierarchical Listing and Detailed Stub List; (16) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for Catalog File; (17) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for Master CSSC File; (18) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for NAEP Data File; (19) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for School File; (20) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for SD/LEP File; (21) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for Student File; (22) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for Tests and Honors File; (23) 2005 High School Transcript Study Codebook for Transcript File; and (24) HSTS 2005 User's Guide and Technical Documentation Glossary. (Contains 38 footnotes, 1 figure, and 20 tables.)

This report has two objectives: first, to explore how the demographic and educational characteristics of low-performing students compare to other students within the United States; second, to analyze if the United States differs from the other PISA countries in terms of the characteristics of its low-performing students. The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and carried out in 32 countries, including the United States, evaluates 15-year-old students' literacy in three areas: reading, mathematics, and science. The first PISA survey was conducted in 2000, with additional assessments planned on a 3-year cycle. Each survey focuses on one of the three types of literacy; in PISA 2000, reading literacy was the major focus. Therefore, it is possible to perform a detailed examination of reading literacy within and across countries. In this and other PISA reports, the United States is compared to both the OECD average and other countries participating in PISA. The OECD average is the mean of the scores of each OECD country. PISA participating countries include both OECD and non-OECD countries.

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that measures 15-year-olds? capabilities in reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy every 3 years. PISA was first implemented in 2000 and is carried out by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. Each PISA data-collection effort assesses one subject area in depth, even as all three are assessed in each cycle so that participating countries have an ongoing source of achievement data in every subject area. In addition to the major subject areas of reading literacy, mathematics literacy, and science literacy, PISA also measures general or cross-curricular competencies such as learning strategies. In this second cycle, PISA 2003, mathematics literacy was the subject area assessed in depth, along with the new cross-curricular area of problem solving. Major findings for 2003 in mathematics literacy and problem solving are provided here, as well as brief discussions of student performance in reading literacy and science literacy and changes in performance between 2000 and 2003. The following are appended: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Reference Tables; (3) TIMSS-PISA 2003 Expert Panelists; and (4) PISA Online Resources and Publications. (Contains 12 figures and 27 tables.)

This report presents results for countries that participated in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003. In 2003, TIMSS was conducted at grades four and eight. This summary highlights initial findings on the performance of U.S. fourth- and eighth-grade students relative to their peers in other countries on the TIMSS assessment. It describes the mathematics and science performance of fourth-and eighth-graders in participating countries over time. For a number of the participating countries, changes in mathematics and science achievement can be documented over 8 years, from 1995 to 2003. The summary is based on the findings presented in two reports published by IEA. The report focuses on results for the United States and includes student achievement in mathematics and science of student subpopulations in the U.S. In addition to the assessments, students, their teachers, and principals were asked to complete questionnaires related to their school and learning experiences. Comparisons made in this report have been tested for statistical significance at the .05 level. Appended are: (1) Technical Notes; (2) Example Items and 2003 Country Results; (3) Detailed Tables; (4) Comparisons between TIMSS, NAEP, and PISA; and (5) TIMSS Online Resources and Publications.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is one of the most comprehensive international studies of schooling and students' achievement in science and mathematics. TIMSS was originally conducted in 1995. Four years later in 1999, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat (TIMSS-R) was conducted. This document presents information on how U.S. eighth grade students performed in both studies and questions whether there have been any significant changes in achievement from an international perspective. Contents are divided into four chapters. Chapter 1 explains the importance of international comparison in education and the reasons for repeating TIMSS, identifies questions used and participating countries, discusses how the research was conducted, and presents the organization of the report. Chapter 2 discusses the mathematics and science achievement of the eighth grade students and presents student scores in both studies. Chapter 3 reviews issues related to curriculum and teaching, confidence levels of teachers, professional development, peer cooperation and classroom practices, and activities. Chapter 4 presents questions raised by the results of this report. (YDS)

The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a system of international assessments that allows countries to compare outcomes of learning as students near the end of compulsory schooling. PISA core assessments measure the performance of 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, and reading literacy every 3 years. Coordinated by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), PISA was first implemented in 2000 in 32 countries. It has since grown to 65 education systems in 2012. PISA's goal is to assess students' preparation for the challenges of life as young adults. PISA assesses the application of knowledge in mathematics, science, and reading literacy to problems within a real-life context (OECD 1999). Mathematics was the major subject area in 2012, as it was in 2003, since each subject is a major subject area once every three cycles. In 2012, mathematics, science, and reading literacy were assessed primarily through a paper-and-pencil assessment, and problem solving was administered via a computer-based assessment. In addition to these core assessments, education systems could participate in optional paper-based financial literacy and computer-based mathematics and reading assessments. The United States participated in these optional assessments. This report presents performance on PISA 2012 in mathematics, science, and reading literacy from a U.S. perspective. Results are presented for the 65 education systems, including the United States, that participated in PISA 2012 and for the three U.S. states--Connecticut, Florida, and Massachusetts--that participated as separate education systems. These three states opted to have separate samples of public-schools and students included in PISA in order to obtain state-level results. In this report, results are presented in terms of average scale scores and the percentage of 15-year-old students reaching selected proficiency levels, comparing the United States with other participating education systems. For proficiency levels, results are reported in terms of the percentage reaching level 5 or above and the percentage below level 2. Higher proficiency levels represent the knowledge, skills, and capabilities needed to perform tasks of greater complexity. At levels 5 and 6, students demonstrate higher level skills and may be referred to as "top performers" in the subject. Conversely, students performing below level 2 are below what the OECD calls "a baseline level of proficiency, at which students begin to demonstrate the literacy competencies that will enable them to participate effectively and productively in life" (OECD 2010, p. 154). This report also presents U.S. trends over time in mathematics, science, and reading literacy, and overall results for the computer-based mathematics and reading assessments. Results for the problem-solving and financial literacy assessments will be released in 2014. Appended are: (1) Methodology and Technical Notes; and (2) International and U.S. Data Collection Results. (Contains 9 tables, 3 figures, 9 footnotes, and 3 exhibits.) [This report was prepared for the National Center for Education Statistics under Contract No. ED-IES-10-C-0047 with Westat.]

Released in December, this 117-page report constitutes the latest installment of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which compares US math and science achievements in elementary and secondary education with that of 26 other TIMSS countries (see the June 13, 1997 Scout Report for information on earlier installments). "The report details findings on the performance of eighth-grade students in mathematics and science in 1999, as well as changes in mathematics and science achievement in participating nations between 1995 and 1999. In addition, initial findings on education-related contextual factors related to teaching and curriculum in 1999 are discussed." The report features a hypertext table of contents for quick browsing.