Preprimary & Primary Education
In these indicators, preprimary education includes programs of education for children at least 3 years of age that involve organized, center-based instructional activities; in most countries, preprimary education is not compulsory. Primary education includes programs that are designed to give students a sound basic education in reading, writing, and mathematics, along with an elementary understanding of other subjects such as history, geography, science, art, and music. In the international classification, primary education usually begins at the start of compulsory education (around age 6) and lasts for 6 years.
Learning Opportunities
- Fourth-Grade Teachers’ Strategies for Dealing with Students Falling Behind in Reading: 2001
- The most common strategies for U.S. teachers to help fourth-graders
who were falling behind in reading were to work
individually with the student and have other students help
the student.
- Students’ Reports of Books at Home: 2001
- In the United States and all the other countries presented,
fourth-graders who reported having 0–10 books in the home
had lower average reading achievement than did fourth-graders
who reported having more books.
Student Achievement
- Academic Performance of Fourth-graders in Mathematics and Science: 2003
- On the TIMSS 2003 fourth-grade mathematics assessment, students in Japan outperformed students in the other participating G-8 countries, with higher percentages of students in Japan reaching each international benchmark.
- Differences in Fourth-grade Mathematics and Science Achievement by Sex: 2003
- In the United States and Scotland, fourth-grade males scored higher, on average, than fourth-grade females in both mathematics and science achievement.
- Fourth-Grade Reading Literacy in Selected G8 Countries, England, and Scotland: 2001
- Only fourth-graders from England scored higher than their
U.S. counterparts among all the reporting countries on the
combined reading literacy scale.
- International Comparisons of Reading Literacy in Grade 4: 2001
- U.S. 4th-graders performed above the international average of 35 countries in reading literacy in 2001. Three countries had a higher average combined reading literacy scale score than the United States and 23 countries had lower average scores.
Student Attitudes & Behavior
- Students’ Attitudes Towards Reading: 2001
- All of the countries presented, with the exception of
England, had greater percentages of fourth-graders with
high index scores on the attitudes toward reading index
than the United States.
Teacher Characteristics
- Teacher Professional Development in Mathematics and Science: 2003
- About two-thirds of U.S. fourth-graders had teachers who reported participating in professional development pertaining to mathematics content. Teacher participation in this area was lower in Italy, Japan, and Scotland.
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