Skip Navigation
small header image
U.S. Department of Education
Institute of Education Sciences
NCES Kids' Zone
  
Digest of Education Statistics
2000 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Issue of the Digest

Table 398. Average eighth grade science scores\1\ by content areas, and average time spent studying out of school, by country: 1994-95 
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                         |   Average percent correct by content area                 |   Distribution of daily out-of-school study time in all
                         |                                                           |          subjects, with mean science scores
         Country         |___________________________________________________________|________________________________________________________________________________
                         |Overall |        |        |        |         |Environmental|                   |At least 1, but    |    2 to 3         |
                         |science |Earth   |Life    |Physics |Chemistry|issues and   |Less than 1 hour   |less than 2 hours  |     hours         |More than 3 hours
                         |scores  |science |science |        |         |the nature   |___________________|___________________|___________________|____________________
                         |        |        |        |        |         |of science   |Percent |Mean score|Percent |Mean score|Percent |Mean score|Percent  |Mean score
_________________________|________|________|________|________|_________|_____________|________|__________|________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________
            1            | 2      | 3      | 4      | 5      | 6       |   7         | 8      | 9        |10      | 11       |12      | 13       |14       | 15
_________________________|________|________|________|________|_________|_____________|________|__________|________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________
International average    |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
 percent correct ........|56 (0.1)|55 (0.1)|59 (0.1)|55 (0.1)| 51 (0.2)|     53 (0.2)|--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   ---
                         |________|________|________|________|_________|_____________|________|__________|________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________
Australia\2\ ............|60 (0.7)|57 (0.8)|63 (0.8)|60 (0.7)| 54 (0.9)|     62 (1.0)|15 (0.9)|505  (6.9)|46 (1.0)|556 (4.1) |22 (0.6)|557 (4.9) |17 (0.7) |546 (5.0)
Austria\2\ ..............|61 (0.7)|62 (0.8)|65 (0.7)|62 (0.7)| 58 (1.1)|     55 (0.9)| 9 (0.8)|551  (9.9)|46 (1.3)|563 (4.8) |21 (0.9)|561 (5.0) |24 (1.2) |553 (4.8)
Belgium (Flemish) .......|60 (1.1)|62 (1.2)|64 (1.1)|61 (1.1)| 51 (1.3)|     58 (1.5)| 2 (0.4)|---   --- |25 (1.3)|545 (5.0) |28 (1.1)|562 (5.9) |45 (1.6) |547 (3.6)
Belgium (French)\2\ .....|50 (0.7)|50 (0.9)|55 (0.9)|51 (0.7)| 41 (0.8)|     46 (1.0)| 7 (0.8)|428  (6.9)|32 (1.0)|481 (4.7) |21 (1.3)|481 (4.5) |40 (1.5) |467 (4.0)
Bulgaria\2\ .............|62 (1.0)|58 (1.2)|64 (1.0)|60 (1.0)| 65 (1.7)|     59 (1.5)|--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   ---
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
Canada ..................|59 (0.5)|58 (0.6)|62 (0.6)|59 (0.4)| 52 (0.7)|     61 (0.7)|14 (1.2)|524  (6.1)|47 (1.1)|541 (2.8) |18 (0.7)|531 (3.9) |21 (1.1) |517 (3.6)
Colombia\2\ .............|39 (0.8)|37 (0.8)|44 (0.9)|37 (0.8)| 32 (1.0)|     40 (1.1)| 2 (0.4)|---   --- |17 (1.1)|421 (5.3) |20 (1.2)|422 (4.9) |61 (1.9) |413 (5.8)
Cyprus ..................|47 (0.4)|46 (0.6)|49 (0.5)|46 (0.4)| 45 (0.6)|     46 (0.8)| 9 (0.5)|430  (7.0)|19 (0.7)|468 (4.4) |26 (0.8)|475 (3.4) |46 (0.9) |466 (2.9)
Czech Republic ..........|64 (0.8)|63 (1.2)|69 (0.8)|64 (0.7)| 60 (1.2)|     59 (1.1)|13 (1.1)|558  (9.0)|57 (1.1)|579 (3.9) |17 (0.9)|582 (7.2) |13 (0.8) |560 (6.4)
Denmark\2\ ..............|51 (0.6)|49 (0.7)|56 (0.7)|53 (0.7)| 41 (0.8)|     47 (1.0)|39 (1.6)|494  (4.4)|39 (1.4)|479 (4.1) |13 (0.8)|459 (5.5) | 9 (0.7) |457 (6.8)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
England\2\ ..............|61 (0.6)|59 (0.8)|64 (0.8)|62 (0.6)| 55 (0.8)|     65 (1.0)|--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   ---
France ..................|54 (0.6)|55 (0.8)|56 (0.8)|54 (0.5)| 47 (0.9)|     53 (0.9)| 8 (0.7)|481  (6.8)|33 (1.2)|497 (3.3) |28 (1.0)|506 (4.0) |31 (1.2) |499 (3.4)
Germany\2\ ..............|58 (1.0)|57 (1.0)|63 (1.1)|57 (1.0)| 54 (1.3)|     51 (1.3)|14 (1.1)|505  (8.2)|51 (1.2)|541 (4.6) |18 (1.0)|544 (7.0) |17 (0.9) |525 (6.5)
Greece\2\ ...............|52 (0.5)|49 (0.6)|54 (0.6)|53 (0.5)| 51 (0.5)|     51 (1.0)| 6 (0.6)|473  (4.8)|14 (0.7)|497 (5.0) |21 (0.7)|500 (3.1) |59 (1.2) |502 (2.5)
Hong Kong ...............|58 (1.0)|54 (1.0)|61 (1.0)|58 (0.9)| 55 (1.0)|     55 (1.3)|13 (1.0)|489  (7.3)|32 (0.9)|519 (4.7) |25 (0.9)|534 (4.8) |30 (1.1) |534 (5.2)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
Hungary .................|61 (0.6)|60 (0.8)|65 (0.7)|60 (0.6)| 60 (0.8)|     53 (0.8)| 4 (0.4)|519 (10.0)|33 (1.1)|553 (4.4) |22 (0.9)|557 (5.6) |41 (1.3) |557 (3.0)
Iceland .................|52 (0.9)|50 (1.2)|58 (1.0)|53 (0.9)| 42 (0.8)|     49 (1.0)| 5 (1.0)|470  (8.7)|46 (1.7)|505 (5.6) |25 (1.3)|493 (4.5) |23 (1.4) |488 (7.5)
Iran, Islamic Republic ..|47 (0.6)|45 (0.6)|49 (0.6)|48 (0.7)| 52 (0.8)|     39 (1.1)| 1 (0.2)|---   --- | 5 (0.5)|476 (6.0) |12 (1.0)|479 (5.2) |82 (1.3) |471 (2.7)
Ireland .................|58 (0.9)|61 (1.0)|60 (1.1)|56 (0.8)| 54 (1.0)|     60 (1.1)| 5 (0.6)|475  (9.0)|29 (1.0)|529 (5.4) |40 (1.1)|550 (4.7) |26 (1.2) |550 (4.9)
Israel\2\ ...............|57 (1.1)|55 (1.1)|61 (1.1)|57 (1.1)| 53 (1.5)|     52 (1.6)| 5 (0.6)|532 (13.5)|36 (2.2)|555 (7.7) |26 (1.5)|523 (6.9) |33 (2.1) |505 (5.2)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
Japan  ..................|65 (0.3)|61 (0.4)|71 (0.4)|67 (0.3)| 61 (0.5)|     60 (0.7)|13 (0.8)|551  (4.4)|39 (0.8)|573 (2.2) |20 (0.6)|572 (3.0) |28 (1.0) |577 (2.4)
Korea ...................|66 (0.3)|63 (0.5)|70 (0.4)|65 (0.5)| 63 (0.6)|     64 (0.8)|15 (0.9)|544  (5.0)|32 (1.1)|564 (2.9) |25 (0.8)|562 (3.1) |29 (1.2) |581 (3.7)
Kuwait\2\ ...............|43 (0.9)|43 (1.0)|45 (1.1)|43 (0.7)| 40 (1.5)|     39 (1.3)| 3 (0.6)|400 (10.4)|13 (1.5)|436 (7.8) |19 (1.3)|432 (7.1) |65 (1.8) |431 (3.4)
Latvia (Latvian-         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
 speaking schools\2\ ....|50 (0.6)|48 (0.8)|53 (0.7)|51 (0.7)| 48 (0.8)|     47 (1.0)| 4 (0.5)|468  (8.5)|35 (1.1)|492 (4.1) |32 (1.2)|490 (4.1) |29 (1.2) |481 (3.0)
Lithuania\2\ ............|49 (0.7)|46 (0.9)|52 (0.9)|51 (0.7)| 48 (0.9)|     40 (1.0)| 5 (0.6)|457  (9.1)|39 (1.4)|484 (4.5) |28 (1.0)|483 (3.8) |28 (1.4) |472 (4.7)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
Netherlands\2\ ..........|62 (1.0)|61 (1.4)|67 (1.4)|63 (0.9)| 52 (0.9)|     65 (1.6)| 3 (0.9)|519 (17.1)|54 (1.7)|559 (6.1) |27 (1.7)|578 (5.4) |16 (0.8) |545 (5.7)
New Zealand .............|58 (0.8)|56 (0.9)|60 (1.0)|58 (0.7)| 53 (1.1)|     59 (1.2)|12 (0.9)|488  (7.6)|51 (1.2)|536 (4.6) |21 (1.0)|537 (5.7) |17 (0.9) |516 (5.7)
Norway ..................|58 (0.4)|61 (0.6)|61 (0.5)|57 (0.4)| 49 (0.6)|     55 (0.8)| 6 (0.5)|501  (7.3)|50 (1.2)|533 (2.5) |24 (0.9)|536 (3.4) |21 (0.9) |516 (3.7)
Portugal ................|50 (0.6)|50 (0.7)|53 (0.6)|48 (0.5)| 50 (0.9)|     45 (0.8)| 3 (0.3)|465  (8.8)|41 (1.1)|488 (2.9) |18 (0.7)|478 (4.1) |38 (1.2) |474 (2.8)
Romania\2\ ..............|50 (0.8)|49 (1.0)|55 (1.0)|49 (0.8)| 46 (1.0)|     42 (1.0)| 9 (0.7)|460 (11.7)|16 (1.0)|468 (7.0) |15 (0.7)|487 (5.7) |60 (1.6) |499 (5.2)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
Russian Federation ......|58 (0.8)|58 (0.8)|62 (0.7)|57 (0.9)| 57 (1.3)|     50 (0.8)| 4 (0.5)|511 (10.1)|33 (1.1)|542 (4.4) |25 (1.0)|538 (4.4) |38 (1.4) |543 (4.6)
Scotland\2\ .............|55 (1.0)|52 (1.0)|57 (1.1)|57 (0.8)| 51 (1.3)|     57 (1.4)|17 (1.4)|470  (5.3)|54 (1.2)|526 (5.1) |17 (1.0)|537 (8.5) |12 (0.8) |532 (6.5)
Singapore ...............|70 (1.0)|65 (1.1)|72 (1.0)|69 (0.8)| 69 (1.2)|     74 (1.1)| 2 (0.3)|---   --- | 7 (0.4)|604 (8.4) |13 (0.6)|617 (7.3) |78 (0.9) |607 (5.4)
Slovak Republic .........|59 (0.6)|60 (0.7)|60 (0.6)|61 (0.6)| 57 (0.8)|     53 (0.9)| 6 (0.5)|551  (7.1)|46 (0.9)|552 (3.7) |25 (0.7)|541 (3.8) |23 (1.0) |536 (4.7)
Slovenia\2\ .............|62 (0.5)|64 (0.7)|65 (0.6)|61 (0.6)| 56 (0.9)|     59 (0.9)| 5 (0.5)|559  (9.2)|36 (1.0)|580 (3.5) |21 (0.8)|557 (3.2) |37 (1.1) |544 (3.3)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
South Africa\2\ .........|27 (1.3)|26 (1.1)|27 (1.3)|27 (1.4)| 26 (1.4)|     26 (1.3)|--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |--- --- |---   --- |---  --- |---   ---
Spain ...................|56 (0.4)|57 (0.5)|58 (0.5)|55 (0.4)| 51 (0.7)|     53 (0.6)| 3 (0.4)|482  (7.9)|26 (1.0)|522 (2.8) |18 (0.9)|522 (3.5) |53 (1.3) |516 (2.2)
Sweden ..................|59 (0.6)|62 (0.7)|63 (0.7)|57 (0.5)| 56 (0.7)|     52 (0.8)| 7 (0.6)|520  (6.0)|55 (1.2)|544 (3.2) |17 (0.8)|539 (4.9) |21 (0.9) |523 (4.9)
Switzerland\2\ ..........|56 (0.5)|58 (0.6)|59 (0.6)|58 (0.5)| 50 (0.7)|     51 (0.8)| 4 (0.3)|500  (8.3)|44 (1.2)|530 (3.1) |19 (0.8)|526 (6.2) |33 (1.1) |514 (3.5)
Thailand\2\ .............|57 (0.9)|56 (1.0)|66 (0.9)|54 (0.7)| 43 (1.2)|     62 (1.1)| 3 (0.3)|510  (8.8)|26 (1.0)|520 (4.0) |18 (0.7)|519 (4.3) |54 (1.5) |532 (4.1)
                         |        |        |        |        |         |             |        |          |        |          |        |          |         |
United States ...........|58 (1.0)|58 (1.0)|63 (1.1)|56 (0.8)| 53 (1.2)|     61 (1.0)|17 (1.1)|507  (9.5)|42 (0.9)|548 (4.1) |17 (0.7)|541 (5.2) |24 (0.8) |533 (5.7)
_________________________|________|________|________|________|_________|_____________|________|__________|________|__________|________|__________|_________|__________

--Not available.
\1\Data are for 8th grade or equivalent in most countries.
\2\Countries not meeting all International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's sampling specifications.

NOTE: Standard errors appear in parentheses.

SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, Science Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEA's Third International Mathematics and Science Study, 1997, by Albert E. Beaton et al. Copyright @ 1996 Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA. (This table was prepared June 1997.)


2000 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Issue of the Digest
Pubs/Products|Surveys/Programs|DataTools|Tables/Figures|FastFacts|School/LibrarySearch|Annuals|What's New|Kids Zone
|Institute of Education Sciences|NCER|NCEE|NCSER
NewsFlash|Staff|Contact|Site Index|Help|RSS|Privacy Policy
  
1990 K Street, NW
Washington, DC 20006, USA
Phone: (202) 502-7300 (map)
Statistical Standards|FedStats.gov