About TIMSS Advanced 2008

TIMSS Advanced 2008 assesses student achievement in advanced mathematics and physics in the final year of secondary school—the twelfth grade in many countries. TIMSS Advanced is part of IEA’s series of TIMSS international assessments designed to provide comparative information about educational achievement across countries. Because TIMSS Advanced assesses students in their last year of secondary school who have studied advanced mathematics or physics to prepare them for further study of mathematics and science at the tertiary level, the results are of particular importance for educational decision making.

In shaping education policy, every country confronts not only the challenge of providing a high level of education for all students, but also the issue of at what level and how many specialists they should be preparing in mathematics, science, and engineering. All countries need to educate students who can teach and pursue careers in a host of crucial medical, social, and industrial fields requiring specialized mathematics or physics knowledge. Across countries, however, programs in advanced mathematics and physics vary widely in terms of the proportion of the age cohort of students enrolled in them, in the depth and sophistication of the subject matter content included, and in their pedagogical and administrative contexts. Participating in an international study that compares and contrasts the achievement of students enrolled in the most advanced programs in mathematics and science provides an excellent opportunity for countries to consider the effectiveness of their academic programs for students graduating from their secondary schools.

For information about enrolling in the next administration of TIMSS Advanced, which is planned for 2015, please contact Dr. Barbara Malak-Minkiewicz, Manager of Member Relations, at IEA’s Secretariat.