IEA’s TIMSS is the world’s longest-running global assessment of student achievement in mathematics and science. Directed by the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College, TIMSS has monitored trends in mathematics and science achievement around the world for 24 years, gathering high-quality data on a 4-year cycle that policymakers and educators use to effect curriculum and policy change. 

TIMSS collects extensive information about the home and school learning environments and students’ experiences. This information is presented in relation to mathematics and science achievement to provide insights about the home, school, and classroom contexts that support learning. TIMSS contextual data helps policymakers identify gaps in resources and possible avenues for improvement. 

Nearly 600,000 fourth and eighth grade students from 64 countries and 8 benchmarking systems participated in TIMSS 2019. Contextual data were collected from students and their teachers and school principals, and, in fourth grade, from their parents, to provide a variety of perspectives on home and school contexts for teaching and learning. 

Educational resources in the home, such as books, an internet connection, and parents with higher levels of education, had a positive association with student achievement. This was found in both mathematics and science and at both grades. 

TIMSS results show the importance of an early start in learning for progress later in school. Students whose parents engaged them at an early age in literacy and numeracy activities in the home had higher average achievement later in school, in the fourth grade. Attending preprimary education also was associated with higher achievement at fourth grade. 

The benefits of an early start are evident from the beginning of schooling. Students who, according to their parents, had literacy and numeracy skills when entering primary school had higher achievement in mathematics and science later, in the fourth grade.

According to principals, schools generally had a high level of emphasis on academic success, with well prepared and highly skilled teachers, supportive parents with expectations for student success, and students who desire to do well and can meet the schools’ academic goals. 
At both grades, students attending schools with higher emphasis on academic success had higher average achievement. At eighth grade, there was a substantial achievement gap between students in very high emphasis schools compared to those with a medium emphasis. 

Students with a high sense of school belonging like being in school, feel that they belong, and have good relationships with teachers.
In both grades, students with a higher sense of school belonging also had higher average achievement. However, the percentage of students reporting a high sense of school belonging was 58 percent across the 58 countries at fourth grade and only 37 percent across the 39 countries at eighth grade.
TIMSS asked school principals about the extent that discipline, disorder, and bullying behaviors are problems in their school. The good news is that most fourth and eighth grade students attended schools with safe environments where such behaviors are relatively rare. At fourth grade, 60 percent of students, on average, were in schools with hardly any problems, and 32 percent with minor problems. The picture was not quite as favorable at eighth grade, with 45 percent in schools with hardly any problems and 43 percent with minor problems. 
Higher average achievement in both subjects and grades was associated with attending schools with fewer school discipline problems.

TIMSS also asked teachers about their perceptions of school safety, and found a good degree of agreement with principals’ reports. Teachers agreed that most fourth and eighth students (more than 90 percent) were in safe and orderly schools. Similar to principals’ reports, however, the situation seemed better at fourth than at eighth grade, with 61 percent of fourth grade students in very safe and orderly schools compared to just under half of eighth grade students. 
At the eighth grade, average achievement in both mathematics and science was lower in schools with less than safe and orderly environments.

TIMSS asked students about how often they experienced various bullying behaviors by
their school peers, including online cyberbullying, with more extreme behaviors included
at the eighth grade. Higher average achievement was associated with students experiencing little or no bullying. At both grades, most students were never or almost never bullied, but the 6-8 percent of students that reported being bullied weekly had considerably lower average achievement.

TIMSS asked students about their attitudes toward mathematics— specifically, how much they like learning mathematics and how confident they feel in doing mathematics.  Students who reported that they like learning mathematics had higher average achievement at both grades. Although students generally had positive attitudes, the percentage who do not like learning mathematics was higher in eighth grade than fourth grade, 41 percent compared to 20 percent. Similarly, students who feel confident in mathematics have higher average achievement than those who do not, but again, the percentage not confident was higher in eighth grade than fourth grade, 44 percent compared to 23 percent.

Similar to mathematics, students generally had positive attitudes toward science, and those with attitudes that are more positive had higher average science achievement. However, there was a higher percentage of students with positive attitudes in the fourth grade (52%) compared to the eighth grade (35%). The percentage confident in science also was higher at the fourth grade than the eighth grade, 38 percent compared to 23 percent.

Students were asked about the clarity of their teachers’ instruction in mathematics and science. For example, students were asked whether they know what their teacher expects them to do, if their teacher is easy to understand, has clear answers to their questions, is good at explaining mathematics or science, or does a variety of things to help the students learn. As anticipated, higher student achievement was associated with greater clarity of instruction in both subjects and grades. About three-quarters of fourth grade students reported their teachers had high instructional clarity, but less than half the eighth grade students did so.
 
TIMSS asked teachers about their recent participation in professional development in a variety of areas in mathematics and science. In some areas there was a sizable gap between teachers’ professional development needs and their recent professional development opportunities. In both subjects and at both grades, about 70 percent of students had teachers who reported needing professional development in integrating technology into instruction and improving students’ critical thinking skills, whereas only about half had professional development on these topics.

This video presents information about TIMSS 2019 home, school, and classroom contexts for mathematics and science teaching and learning. To view a video about mathematics and science achievement results and to find about more about the TIMSS 2019 international results, visit timss2019.org.

TIMSS is a project of IEA and is directed by the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College.