The Trends in??International Mathematics and Science Study results are out. Here's Fordham's official take:
The latest results of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) include a few good pieces of news for the U.S. economy. (And these days, we'll take any good economic news we can get.) American students have made steady gains in mathematics performance over the past decade. This progress was especially noteworthy at the eighth grade level, where the U.S. made gains since 1995 that were at least as strong as all of our major economic competitors. (The news was not as good in fourth grade, where several countries, including England and Hong Kong, made dramatic gains far outpacing ours.) Considering that researchers have found a strong correlation between performance on international exams such as TIMSS and long-term economic growth, this progress bodes well for the American economy. (Of course, we still have a long way to go before we close the gap with top-scoring countries.)
However, the story on science is much more discouraging. American students actually lost ground in fourth grade science, seeing their scores slip three points over the past decade while seven countries (including Singapore, Hong Kong, and England) made double-digit gains. The lesson is that what gets tested gets taught. Under the No Child Left Behind act, and state accountability systems before that, elementary schools have been held accountable for boosting performance in math and reading. There is evidence that American elementary schools are spending less time teaching science, and this is showing up in the international testing data.
There's also good news out of Minnesota today, which has made dramatic gains since adopting new, more rigorous math standards.
As President-Elect Obama and the Congress consider ways to update the federal No Child Left Behind act, they should look at this study and work to ensure that all core subjects--certainly including science but also history, literature, and the arts--receive the attention and focus that is now going to reading and math alone. And the fifty governors might look to Minnesota's example and adopt common, national standards with just as much rigor and focus.
