Dec 11, 2024 23:00:00

Where does Japan rank? TIMSS 2023, an international survey report on mathematics and science covering 64 countries

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, headquartered in the Netherlands, has released the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2023, which surveyed the academic ability of children in the same grade in a total of 64 countries. The results reveal which countries' children achieved high scores.

International Results - TIMSS 2023

https://timss2023.org/results/

TIMSS2023 Results (Summary)
(PDF file) https://www.nier.go.jp/timss/2023/gaiyou.pdf

The survey targeted fourth-graders (fourth grade elementary school students in Japan) and eighth graders (second grade junior high school students in Japan). Data was collected from 359,098 fourth-graders from 12,016 schools in 59 countries, and from 297,262 eighth-graders from 8,786 schools in 44 countries. In Japan, data was randomly selected from 3,875 fourth-graders from 141 schools and 3,905 second-grade junior high school students from 133 schools.

Below are scores for fourth grade math scores broken down by country. From top left to bottom right, the countries are listed in order of best performance. Singapore came in first with 615 points, Taiwan in second with 607 points, and South Korea in third with 594 points. Japan came in fifth with 591 points. These scores were calculated based on the average score of 500 points at the time of the 1995 survey.

When looking at performance by gender, the majority of countries showed a difference in performance, with boys scoring higher on average in 40 countries, no difference in 17 countries, and only one country where girls scored higher on average.

For second-year junior high school students, the top three - Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea - remained unchanged, while Japan moved up to fourth place.

In terms of gender, boys had an advantage in almost half of the countries.

According to a document outlining TIMSS 2023 compiled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and the National Institute for Educational Policy Research, 'Japan's average scores in arithmetic and mathematics continue to be among the highest in the world. Compared to the previous survey, there has been no significant change in average scores in Japan for both elementary and junior high schools. The average rate of correct answers to the same questions as in the previous survey is at the same level.'

The survey revealed the following questions:

According to the TIMSS 2023 materials, the following questions were asked in English-speaking countries:

Scores are categorized in increments of 75 points, and in the case of fourth grade math, scores are evaluated as follows: '625 points: Able to relate concepts and expressions in a wide range of contexts,' '550 points: Able to demonstrate mathematical knowledge and relate expressions in simple situations,' and '475 points: Has a basic understanding of math.' The results show that in Japan, there are more children in the high-scoring bracket than the international median, and that the number of such children is increasing slightly each year.

In fourth grade science, the top spots were taken by Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey and England, with Japan coming in sixth.

In terms of gender, it is shown that there are many countries where there is no gender difference.

Japan came in third for second-year junior high school students. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stated, 'Japan's average science scores remain among the best in the world. Compared to the previous survey, Japan's average scores for both elementary and junior high schools have dropped significantly. The average percentage of correct answers for the same questions as in the previous survey is about the same.'

The results showed that even in the second year of junior high school, there was either no difference between boys and girls, or one gender was almost equally likely to have an advantage.

In Japan, too, results show that men's average scores are slightly higher in both arithmetic/mathematics and science. Meanwhile, a summary of the results from the 2012, 2015, 2018, and 2022 National Academic Achievement and Learning Status Survey led by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology shows that 'in both arithmetic/mathematics and science, girls have a higher average correct answer rate than boys, but there is no substantial difference between the average scores of boys and girls.'

In the evaluation using increments of 75 points, there has been a decrease in the number of high scorers compared to the previous survey.

In TIMSS 2023, 88 newly created questions were asked in elementary schools and 109 in junior high schools (50% of the total). According to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, these new questions include questions about tropical and arid ecosystems that are unfamiliar to Japanese students, as well as questions that are out of sync with the learning period of Japanese children. In fact, data from this survey showed that the newer the questions, the lower the correct answer rate was often the international average, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology stated, 'When analyzing science results, it is necessary to take these factors into consideration.'

Data linking economic status and academic performance shows that higher socioeconomic status is associated with better academic performance.

The same was true for the economic status of the schools, with children from wealthy schools performing better than children from poorer schools.

Additionally, children in schools that placed a high emphasis on academic success had higher average grades than those in schools that placed a 'normal' or 'moderate' emphasis on academic success.

A survey on interest in arithmetic, mathematics, and science shows that the percentage of Japanese students (second-year junior high school students) who answered that 'studying mathematics/science is useful in everyday life' is increasing from 2003 to 2023.

The percentage of people who answered that 'studying arithmetic and mathematics is fun' is on the rise among second-year junior high school students, but is still below the international average.

In science, the percentage of fourth graders who answered that 'studying is fun' has consistently been higher than the international average since 2007.

Regarding science, the TIMSS 2023 document shows that 'occasional classroom experiments contribute to improving average fourth-grade science grades more than either frequent classroom experiments or no classroom experiments at all.'