why are u.s. students falling behind their international peers in science and mathematics? an...
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WHY ARE U.S. STUDENTS FALLING BEHIND THEIR INTERNATIONAL PEERS IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS?
AN INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON
TIMSS OVERVIEW Third International Mathematics and
Science Study
Who was tested?
Who developed the assessments?
TIMSS RESULTS AND FINDINGS
Fourth Graders
Eighth Graders
Twelfth Graders
Advanced Students
GENERAL INFORMATION
Decrease in scores
Undemanding curricula
Poor districts vs. wealthy districts
Top performing countries
MATHEMATICS CURRICULUM
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
Shallow Many Topics Limited Instructional Time Unchallenging Repetitious Incoherent
NUMBER OF TOPICS
Many more than other TIMSS Countries
Mad rush to cover all
International comparisons
NUMBER OF NEW TOPICS
Decreases as grade level increases 25% new between 4th and 8th grades
in U.S. 75% new between 4th and 8th grades
in top-performing TIMSS countries One new vs. twenty new International comparisons
TEXTBOOKS Large and heavy
Many pages
Breadth and no depth
Contain more topics than other TIMSS countries
CALCULATORS
4TH grade math classes
Used often in low-performing TIMSS countries
Used rarely in high-performing TIMSS countries
DISPERSED CONTROL OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Many different governing bodies Local control No common standard in U.S. Common standards in other TIMSS
countries
MATH PROBLEMS DUE TO LACK OF CONSESUS AND DIFFERING
VIEWS
Report released by U. S. Department of Education
Letter to Department of Education
Endorsers of letter
PROBLEMS WITH THE ENDORSED PROGRAMS
Calculators
Unfocused
De-emphasis of need for arithmetic
Problems with specific programs
RECOMMENDATIONS
National mathematics curriculum
Mathematics programs
Attitude towards mathematics education
REFERENCES Bushweller, K. International comparisons ( 1996). Retrieved June 7, 2007 from
http://www.asbj.com/achievement/aa/aa2.html Cogan, L.S., & Schmidt, W.H.( 1999, Fall). Middle School Math Reform. Middle
Matters, 8, 2 – 3. Retrieved June 7, 2007 from http://ustimss.msu.edu/midmathreform.html
Executive Summary( 1997). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/math/part2.html
Klein, D. Math Problems( 2000). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.hobel.org/lwved/id62.htm
Latest TIMSS Again Shows Curriculum Does Matter( 2001). Retrieved June 7th , 2007 from http://www.ur.msu.edu/media
Middle-School Algebra: Ready or Not ( 2003)? Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.education-world.com/a_curr/curr147.shtml
Third International Mathematics and Science Study ( 1999). Retrieved June 8th, 2007 from http://nces.ed.gov/timss/
TIMSS Overview and Key Findings Across Grade Levels ( 1998). Retrieved June 13, 2007 from http://www.ed.gov/inits/Math/tmpres2.html
Valverde, G., & Schmidt, W.H. ( 1997, Winter). Refocusing U.S. Math and Science Education. Retrieved June 7, 2007 from http://www.issues.org/14.4/schmid.htm