Wednesday
December 10, 2008
by desertjim
Yesterday saw the release of the most recent results of the quadrennial Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The report is based on science and mathematics tests given to representative samples of students at the 4th and 8th grade levels. Fourth Graders from 36 countires and eighth graders in 48 different nations were tested.
The test results produced a mixed bag of commentary. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) is discouraged. The NSTA website says, “Science scores for both fourth and eighth grade students have remained flat since 1995 and scores for minority students are dismal.” The NSTA blames the poor results primarily on the fact that science education has been eliminated from many K-6 classrooms. Education Week tends to agree with the negative assessment, using the headline, “Asians Best US Students in Math and Science.” The article goes on to point out measurable improvement in the math scores of US Fourth graders but noted that nothing has changed in the US position relative to other nations.
MSNBC finds more positive news saying that, “In math and science, American kids are doing better than people think...but some Asian countries have an edge in math that just keeps growing. US students have made significant gains in math since 1995 and score above average on international fourth and eighth grade tests.” The New York Times also picks out the higher math scores for their headline and quotes the acting commissioner of the National Center for Education Statisics who said, “We were pleased to see improvements in math, and wished we’d seen more in science.”
Overall, scores in the US were above the international average in each subject and grade. However, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong dominated the fourth grade tests. Several developing eastern European countries (such as Hungary, Latvia,and the Czech Republic) outscored the US on some of the tests. In one interesting part of the study, Massachusetts and Minnesota were graded as though they were separate countries. Both states did better than all but the top performing Asian countries. The overall TIMSS findings match the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) that recently found some progress in math and less progress in science.
So, what should we draw from this latest test? Has the emphasis on reading under No Child Left Behind distracted schools from providing a more rounded education for our children? Should we be spending more time on science education?
Labels:
Funny the report didn’t mention anything about mainland China. Words are that they have the most advanced science (especially Mathematics) education for kids and teenagers less than 15 years old. US not doing a good job educating its own future generation, however, is old news and I guess everybody can see it even without a systematically applied survey.
