Education Week – Ina V.S. Mullis and Michael O. Martin
“As the number of jobs in STEM fields and the related demand for STEM skills grows, discussion among educators and policymakers is increasingly focused on how well students are being prepared to meet these needs. Simultaneously, interest is growing in how other countries prepare their students in crucial STEM-related subjects at school. Beginning in 1995 and every four years since, TIMSS—the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA)—has measured student achievement around the world, providing comparative information about how well students are learning mathematics and science and the home and school factors associated with achievement. Having monitored student learning in mathematics and science for 20 years and counting, TIMSS is a unique source of data on how well—and how—countries are preparing their students for the future, providing lessons that can inform policy and practice. In 2015, the most recent year for which data are available (TIMSS 2019 results will be released next year), 60 countries and benchmarking entities participated in TIMSS.” (more)