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TIMSS RESULTS INDICATE ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT      The results of the Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS) recently released by the U.S. Department of Education were disappointing to say the least. American 12th grade students fared poorly on the study, which was conducted in 1995 and involved nearly 1/2 million students from 21 countries. A steady decline in performance is obvious among the three grade levels tested: 4th, 8th, and 12th, and the results indicate areas that need improvement if American students are to keep up with the rest of the world.       Not all of the news was disappointing: at the 4th grade level, U.S. students were ranked near the first in the world in science, and exceeded the international average in mathematics. However, U.S. performance slipped by the 8th grade to slightly above the international average in science and to below the international average in mathematics. By the 12th grade, U.S. students, including even our most advanced, alarmingly fell to below average in both science and mathematics. Out of the 21 participating nations, only two, Cyprus and South Africa, scored lower at the 12th grade level.      This information is crucial to placing the progress of American students in an international context. TIMSS is respected as a valid indicator of international achievement. According to the Department of Education, TIMSS is the largest, most comprehensive, and most rigorous international comparison of education ever undertaken. The tests were administered to students selected to accurately represent the range of students in their respective countries, including those from public and private schools.      The results clearly are a call for action for everyone involved in the education process to work to raise American standards of education. Our students deserve the opportunity to keep up with their international peers. The Department of Education, headed by Education Secretary Richard Riley, outlined six initiatives in light of the disappointing U.S. results: 1) Build a firm foundation in the middle grades by having more students study algebra and geometry by eighth and ninth grade. The present U.S. curriculum fails to lay sufficient groundwork in these subjects to prepare students for complex high school mathematics and science. 2) Raise state and local standards of academic performance in mathematics and science. 3) Measure student performance against rigorous standards, such as the voluntary national test in 8th grade-mathematics proposed by President Clinton, designed to establish a tough national benchmark to reflect a student's performance across states and around the world. 4) Offer a challenging curriculum and encourage students to take demanding mathematics and science courses including physics, chemistry, trigonometry, and calculus by the 12th grade. Algebra and geometry classes must be completed by the eighth and ninth grades to ensure the students' ability to perform in these challenging classes. 5) Improve the teaching of mathematics and science through teacher training. Riley noted that 18 percent of high school science teachers and 28 percent of high school math teachers neither majored nor minored in their teaching areas. 6) Destroy the myth that advanced mathematics and science are only for a few students.      While the TIMSS results were surprisingly disappointing for American educators, they indicate the specific areas that need improvement, such as geometry and algebra. The results also reveal model nations that achieved high performance at all grade levels, most notably Canada, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. American educators can examine these successes, learn from them, and effectively use all available resources to improve the quality of teaching and learning of mathematics and science at all grade levels. A follow-up study will be held in 1999 to assess the level of progress made over the intervening four years. TIMSS reveals the path to excellence for American schools by exposing our own shortcomings and by using the examples of other successful nations: high standards of quality, a challenging curriculum, and effective teaching. Last updated: April 23, 2003 Questions about MSEN Day?  Please email Felicia Lee