A r c h i v e d I n f o r m a t i o n

FOR RELEASE
June 10,1997

Contact: David Thomas
(202) 401-1576

U.S. 4TH GRADERS NEAR THE TOP IN SCIENCE; ABOVE INTERNATIONAL AVERAGE IN MATH

For the first time, an international comparison of fourth grade math and science achievement shows American students above average in both math and science -- 41 points above the average science score of 524 and 16 points above the international average math score of 529.

According to the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), released today by the Education Department's National Center for Education Statistics, statistically, only Korea outperformed the U.S. in fourth grade science and of the other 25 participating nations, only seven -- Singapore, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Netherlands, the Czech Republic and Austria -- did better than the U.S. in math in the fourth grade.

U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley said: "This is a good news day for American education. Our fourth graders are among the best in the world when it comes to learning the basics of science and they also seem to be improving and among the brightest when it comes to learning the basics of math.

"Our elementary schools are getting better at teaching the basics. Our goal now is to keep up the pace and make sure that they are learning to these high standards all the way through to high school."

Riley noted that these results suggest national progress in elementary school math and science. A similar international study in 1991 found U.S. fourth graders well below average in math and near the top in science, but not as outstanding as in this study. According to the new report, 16 percent of U.S. fourth graders rank among the world's top 10 percent in science performance, and nine percent among the world's top 10 percent in math.

Riley said that no country had a significantly higher percentage among top performers in science, but added, "we cannot lose sight of the students at the bottom. Every child must have a real chance to master challenging material, and our work is far from done."

A TIMSS report issued last November found U.S. eighth graders performing slightly above average in science and slightly below in math. When compared to counterparts abroad, U.S. students perform better in science than in math at both the fourth and eighth grades, and better at fourth grade than at eighth grade in both math and science.

"Studying our international performance at grades four and eight gives clear evidence that math at eighth grade is a weak link," Riley said. "We now have further evidence of the critical importance of the president's proposal for a national test of math at grade eight to help students master math, no matter where they live in this great country."

Of the G 7 countries, the U.S., Japan, Canada and England participated in the fourth grade study; Italy, Germany, and France did not. Compared to our major economic partners, U.S. students' science scores are not significantly different from those in Japan. And U.S. students outperform those in England and Canada. In math, U.S. scores are below those of Japan, not significantly different from those of Canada, and significantly higher than those of England.

Overall, in the 10 areas studied, U.S. fourth graders are above average in life, earth and physical sciences, and in environmental issues, as well as in whole numbers, fractions, geometry, data representation and patterns, but below the international average in measurement.

"These data suggest that U.S. schools are doing a good job in the early years of preparing students with an internationally competitive academic foundation in math and science," said Commissioner of Education Statistics Pascal Forgione, Jr. "However, when compared with the U.S. eighth grade data, these findings also suggest that, at least in math, this standing is not sustained into the middle school years."

According to the new report, factors such as amount of homework given, time spent watching television, amount of class time, number of years of college training for teachers, and curriculum offer no conclusive explanation of the fourth graders' high test scores.

Among the findings reported in Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Fourth Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context :

More U.S. fourth graders watch large amounts of TV than the international average;
U.S. fourth graders have more educational resources in their homes than the average student in other TIMSS countries;
Computers are more common in the homes of U.S. fourth graders than the international average, but the U.S. is not the world leader;
U.S. teachers assign about the same amount of math homework as teachers in other countries;
U..S. students spend more class time per week studying math and science than their average international counterparts;
U.S. students use calculators and computers in class more often than the average student in other TIMSS countries.

The fourth and eighth grade reports are available on the department's web site at www.ed.gov/NCES/timss. Printed copies of the new report are available while they last from the NCES TIMSS Customer Service Line at (202) 2191333. The report will also be available from the U.S. Government Printing Office.

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