The TIMMS-R report indicates that our students should have been better prepared than the international averages in both science and math based on intended curriculum coverage. There are a lot of "catches" to that statement, but the impression is that the curriculum would not seem to be at fault in the US, taken as a whole. The material below is quoted from page 52 of the report. Jim [quote] ... For example, if the intended mathe-matics or science curriculum in a nation does not emphasize the topics in a particular content area, or only a select group of students is intended to learn a particular topic, then we would be less likely to expect that nation s students to perform well in that content area on TIMSS R. Across the five content areas in mathematics and the six content areas in science examined in TIMSS R, the intended U.S. mathematics and science curricula appear to have had a higher percentage of overall coverage of the TIMSS R content areas than the international average. In mathematics, 93 percent of the topics included in the content areas overall were intended to be taught to all or almost all (at least 90 percent) of U.S. students in 1999. The international average of intended coverage to all or almost all students was 75 percent of the topics in the five mathematics content areas. One hundred percent of the topics in three mathematics content areas fractions and number sense; measurement; and data representation, analysis, and probability were intended to be taught to all or almost all U.S. eighth-grade students. Eighty-five percent of the topics in geometry and 82 percent of the topics in algebra were intended to be covered. Similarly, 86 percent of the topics in the six science content areas overall were intended to be taught to all or almost all (at least 90 percent) of U.S. students in 1999. The international average across the TIMSS R nations was 62 percent. One hundred percent of the topics in five of the six science content areas earth science; biology; physics; environmental and resource issues; and scientific inquiry and the nature of science were intended to be taught to all or almost all U.S. eighth-grade students. Fifty percent of topics in chemistry were intended to be covered. [end quote] -- Metric Methods(SM) "Don't be late to metricate!" James R. Frysinger, CAMS http://www.metricmethods.com/ 10 Captiva Row e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Charleston, SC 29407 phone/FAX: 843.225.6789
