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TIMSS 2023 Encyclopedia: Education Policy and Curriculum in Mathematics and Science

Katherine A. Reynolds, Charlotte E. A. Aldrich, A. Bookbinder, Audrey Gallo, Matthias von Davier, and Ann Kennedy, Editors

Introduction

The TIMSS 2023 Encyclopedia has two main components, both of which are contributed by countries’ National Research Coordinators:

  1. TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire Data
  2. Country Chapters

The TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaires, one administered in each grade (Grade 4 and Grade 8), cover a variety of topics related to the overall structure of countries’ education systems (e.g., years of compulsory schooling, school days per year) and mathematics and science curricula (e.g., policies about digital devices, topics covered). The curriculum questionnaire data are further contextualized by information provided in the country chapters. The education system chapters include a narrative overview of each country’s education system, the use and impact of TIMSS within the country, a detailed description of the Grade 4 and Grade 8 mathematics and science curricula, information on teacher professional development, and any special initiatives in mathematics and science education.

The TIMSS 2023 Encyclopedia includes a new interactive data display of countries’ curriculum questionnaire data. The display allows users to filter data by grade, subjects, and topics of interest. All data are available for download in Excel format. A codebook with information about the Curriculum Questionnaires is also provided.

The TIMSS 2023 Countries

Sixty-five education systems and six benchmarking systems participated in TIMSS 2023. These systems could participate in the fourth-grade assessment, the eighth-grade assessment, or both. Fifty-nine education systems and six benchmarking systems participated in Grade 4, and forty-four education systems and three benchmarking systems participated in Grade 8.

Demographic and Economic Characteristics of TIMSS 2023 Participants

There is great diversity across the TIMSS 2023 participants with respect to demographic and economic characteristics. TIMSS 2023 does not directly gather data about these characteristics. However, selected measures compiled from the World Bank’s DataBank, a repository of databases that include a range of economic, education, and human development indicators, and other external sources are presented in the table below (Exhibit 1). These measures include population size, geographic area, life expectancy, infant mortality rate, Gross National Income (GNI) per Capita (U.S. and international dollars), and the Gini Index of income inequality. Selected characteristics related to education are also reported, including public expenditure on education (as percent of Gross Domestic Product [GDP]), primary and secondary school enrollment rates, and primary and secondary school student-teacher ratios.

Exhibit 1 : Selected Characteristics of TIMSS 2023 Countries

The TIMSS 2023 participants vary greatly in size and in other demographic indicators. Regarding population size, the United States (335 million) and Brazil (216 million) are some of the largest, while several TIMSS 2023 participants have populations of fewer than 1 million people, including Montenegro and Malta (600,000 in each country). Similarly, some participants have very large geographic areas, including Canada (15.6 million), the United States (9.8 million), and Brazil (8.5 million). Others are much smaller, with areas less than 1,000 square kilometers (Macao SAR and Malta). Average life expectancy is generally high across TIMSS 2023 participants. Most participating countries have an average life expectancy above 70, and several have an average life expectancy in the mid-80s. Infant mortality rates are low, with the majority of TIMSS participants having a rate of 10 or fewer per one thousand live births.

The TIMSS 2023 participants also differ substantially in their economic characteristics. Inequality also varies among participants, with the Gini Index ranging from a low of 24.1 in Slovak Republic to a high of 44.4 in Türkiye.

The public expenditure on education as a percent of GDP includes education systems spending a higher percentage of GDP such as Sweden and South Africa (7% in each country) and participants spending a lower percentage of GDP in Armenia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Singapore (2% in each country). About three-quarters of the TIMSS 2023 education systems have over 90 percent net enrollment at the primary level and more than half have over 90 percent net enrollment at the secondary level. For most participants, the average number of students per teacher is 20 or fewer for both primary and secondary schools.

Curriculum Questionnaire Highlights

The following sections summarize select findings from the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaires. TIMSS 2023 participants’ full responses to the questionnaire(s) can be found on the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire data display page.

Early Childhood Education

All TIMSS 2023 participants have some form of early childhood education and development (ECED) or preprimary education (PPE) programs available for families, although the specific types of programs vary. Forty-eight participants (74%) have government-sponsored ECED programs, and 60 countries (92%) have government-sponsored PPE programs. Privately run ECED and PPE programs are also common and are available in over 90% of the TIMSS 2023 education systems (61 for ECED and 62 for PPE). Targeted programs for certain subgroups of students are less common—26 participants have targeted ECED programs, and 26 participants have targeted PPE programs (40% of education systems). In many education systems, the available ECED and PPE programs vary by state or province.

Most TIMSS 2023 education systems (56) allow children to attend these early educational programs for 4 or more years. However, a small number of participants restrict attendance to 2 or 3 years (5 and 4 education systems, respectively). Ninety-five percent of TIMSS 2023 participants (62) have national curriculum guidance for PPE programs, and 71 percent of education systems (46) have this guidance for ECED programs.

Exams, Promotion, and Retention

Over 90 percent of TIMSS 2023 participants (61) administer examinations that have consequences for individual students, such as entry to a high school system, entry to a university, and/or exiting or graduating from secondary school. Additionally, 78 percent of education systems (51) have a policy on the promotion and retention of students across Grades 1 to 8. In many cases, this policy mandates automatic promotion to the next grade (especially for younger students), but sometimes this is dependent on academic progress.

Special Initiatives in Education

Special sustainability and social-emotional learning initiatives are common across the TIMSS 2023 education systems. More than ninety percent of TIMSS 2023 participants (61) have national efforts or initiatives related to promoting sustainability or environmentalism, and over 80 percent of education systems (53) have national efforts or initiatives related to promoting social-emotional learning. The exact nature of these initiatives varies substantially across education systems, with some providing highly structured programs and activities while others have general guidelines for addressing the topics.

Teacher and Principal Preparation

Across the TIMSS 2023 participants, completing a university degree in education is the most common form of teacher preparation at both Grade 4 and Grade 8. In addition, a large majority of education systems require teachers at the fourth- and eighth-grade levels to pass a qualifying exam. Teachers for both grades also complete a probationary teaching period and mentoring or induction program in many education systems.

Across TIMSS 2023 participants, there are common requirements for principals of schools with fourth- and eighth-grade students, including teaching experience, completion of a specialized school leadership training program, and completion of a graduate degree in school leadership.

Fourth-Grade Mathematics Curriculum

Many TIMSS 2023 education systems (60) have a national fourth-grade mathematics curriculum. Other systems have curricula developed at the state or provincial level. The components included in the curriculum and the degree of flexibility that schools have in implementing the curricula vary across systems. Forty-four education systems have a digital device policy in fourth-grade mathematics.

Although there is variation across education systems, most topics and skills included in the fourth-grade TIMSS 2023 mathematics assessment are represented in participants’ curricula and taught to all or almost all students. This is summarized in Exhibit 2—for additional country comments on these topics, see the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire data.

Exhibit 2. TIMSS 2023 Topics and Skills Represented in Education Systems’ Fourth-Grade Mathematics Curricula

Number
  • Add and subtract up to 4-digit numbers
  • Combine two or more properties of numbers or operations to solve a problem
  • Multiply (up to 3-digit by 1-digit and 2-digit by 2-digit numbers) and divide (up to 3-digit by 1-digit numbers)
Measurement and Geometry
  • Measure, estimate, add, and subtract lengths (millimeters, centimeters, meters, kilometers)
Data Display
  • None

Number
  • Recognize place value of numbers to 6 digits, connect representations of numbers (words, symbols, and models including number lines), and compare numbers
  • Solving problems involving odd and even numbers, multiples and factors of numbers, rounding numbers (up to the nearest powers of 10), and making estimates
  • Find the missing number or operation in a number sentence (e.g., 17 + w = 29)
  • Match, describe, or use relationships in a well-defined pattern (e.g., describe the relationship between adjacent terms and generate pairs of whole numbers given a rule)
  • Describe a fraction as part of a whole or collection; connect different representations of fractions (words, numbers, and models); compare the size of fractions; add and subtract simple fractions with like denominators
Measurement and Geometry
  • Add and subtract mass (gram and kilogram), volume (milliliter and liter), and time (minutes and hours); select appropriate types and sizes of units and read scales
  • Recognize and draw parallel and perpendicular lines, right angles, and angles smaller or larger than a right angle; compare the relative size of angles
  • Determine perimeters of polygons, areas of rectangles, areas of shapes covered with squares or partial squares, and volumes filled with cubes
  • Use elementary properties, including line and rotational symmetry, to describe and create common two-dimensional shapes (circle, triangles, quadrilaterals, and other polygons)
  • Use elementary properties to describe three dimensional shapes (cubes, rectangular solids, cones, cylinders, and spheres), the differences among them, and how they relate to their two-dimensional representations
Data Display
  • Read data from tables, pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs, and pie charts
  • Create or complete tables, pictographs, bar graphs, line graphs, and pie charts

Number
  • Match or write expressions or number sentences to represent problem situations that may involve unknowns
  • Connect different representations of decimals (words, numbers, and models); compare and order decimals and relate decimals to fractions; round decimals; add and subtract decimals (up to two decimal places)
Measurement and Geometry
  • None
Data Display
  • Interpret and use data to answer questions that go beyond directly reading data displays
  • Combine or compare data from two or more sources and draw conclusions based on two or more datasets

Number
  • None
Measurement and Geometry
  • None
Data Display
  • None
Eighth-Grade Mathematics Curriculum

Forty-five TIMSS 2023 education systems have an eighth-grade mathematics curriculum. Similar to fourth-grade mathematics, other systems have curricula that are developed at the state or provincial level. The components included in the curriculum, as well as the degree of flexibility that schools have in implementing the curricula vary across systems. Twenty-one education systems have a digital device policy in mathematics at the eighth-grade level.

Although there is variation across education systems, most topics and skills included in the eighth-grade TIMSS 2023 mathematics assessment are represented in participants’ curricula and taught to all or almost all students. This is summarized in Exhibit 3—for additional country comments on these topics, see the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire data.

Exhibit 3. TIMSS 2023 Topics and Skills Represented in Education Systems’ Eighth-Grade Mathematics Curricula

Number
  • Multiples, factors, and prime numbers
  • Add and subtract with negative numbers
  • Compare and order fractions and decimals
  • Add, subtract, multiply, and divide with fractions and decimals
  • Combine two or more properties of numbers or operations to solve a problem
  • Ratios and proportions
  • Find percentages, convert between percentages and fractions or decimals
Algebra
  • Find the value of an expression or formula given values of variables
  • Simplify and compare algebraic expressions
  • Write expressions to represent problems
  • Solve linear equations and inequalities
Geometry
  • Recognize and draw different types of angles and lines
  • Recognize two-dimensional shapes and use their properties (e.g., circles, triangles)
Data and Chance
  • Interpret data from one or more sources (e.g., make comparisons, draw conclusions)
  • Organize and represent data in appropriate figures or tables to help answer questions

Number
  • None
Algebra
  • Interpret and generate representations of linear functions in tables, graphs, or words
Geometry
  • The Pythagorean Theorem
  • Geometric translations, reflections, and rotations
  • Recognize three-dimensional shapes and use their geometric properties
Data and Chance
  • Summarize data using the mean and median, and recognize the effect of spread
  • Determine theoretical and empirical probability for simple events

Number
  • None
Algebra
  • Interpret and generate representations of simple non-linear functions in tables, graphs, or words
Geometry
  • None
Data and Chance
  • None

Number
  • None
Algebra
  • None
Geometry
  • None
Data and Chance
  • Determine theoretical and empirical probability for compound events
Fourth-Grade Science Curriculum

Sixty-one TIMSS 2023 education systems have a national fourth-grade science curricula and other systems have curricula that are developed at the state or provincial level. As with mathematics, the components included in the curriculum, as well as the degree of flexibility that schools have in implementing the curricula, vary across systems. Forty education systems have a digital device policy in science at the fourth-grade level.

Compared to mathematics, there is more variation in coverage of the TIMSS fourth-grade science topics across education systems’ curricula. However, many topics are represented in participants’ curricula and taught to all or almost all students. The earth science topics are the least well-represented across countries. This is summarized in Exhibit 4—for additional country comments on these topics, see the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire data.

Exhibit 4. TIMSS 2023 Topics and Skills Represented in Education Systems’ Fourth-Grade Science Curricula

Life Science
  • Differences between living and non-living things and what living things require to live
  • Physical and behavioral characteristics of major groups of living things (e.g., birds, mammals, plants)
  • Functions of major structures in plants and animals (e.g., bones, lungs, stem, leaves)
Physical Science
  • Solids, liquids, gases, and their characteristics
Earth Science
  • None

Life Science
  • Plants and animals in common ecosystems (e.g., desert, forest, grasslands)
  • Stages of life cycles and differences among the life cycles of common plants and animals (e.g., frogs, butterflies, flowering plants)
  • The positive and negative impacts of humans on the environment
  • Relationships in simple food chains
  • Physical features of plants and animals that help them survive in their environment
Physical Science
  • Physical properties as a basis for classifying matter (e.g., mass, volume, ability to conduct heat)
  • Physical changes observed in everyday life (e.g., dissolving, crushing)
  • Common sources of energy (e.g., the Sun, wind, oil, gas)
Earth Science
  • Physical characteristics of Earth (e.g., fresh and salt water, air)

Life Science
  • Responses of plants and animals to changes in environmental conditions
  • Ways of promoting human health and preventing the transmission of common communicable diseases
  • Inheritance and reproductive strategies (e.g., plants producing many seeds, mammals caring for their young)
  • Competition in ecosystems
  • Inherited and acquired characteristics in plants and animals
Physical Science
  • Common phenomena related to the behavior of light (e.g., shadows, reflections)
  • Magnetic attraction and repulsion
  • Common phenomena related to the behavior of sound (e.g., echoes)
  • Familiar forces and the motion of objects (e.g., gravity, friction)
  • Chemical changes observed in everyday life (e.g., decaying, burning)
  • Heat transfer (e.g., energy flows from a warmer object to a colder object)
  • Examples of mixtures and how they can be physically separated
  • Electricity and simple electrical circuits
  • Examples of simple machines (e.g., levers, ramps, pulleys)
Earth Science
  • Earth’s motion and related patterns observed on Earth (e.g., day and night, seasons)
  • Earth’s renewable and non-renewable resources
  • How weather can vary across geographic locations and seasons
  • Composition of the Solar System (e.g., Sun, planets)
  • Changes in Earth’s surface over time

Life Science
  • None
Physical Science
  • None
Earth Science
  • Fossils and what they show about Earth’s history
  • Earth’s rising average temperatures and results of this change (e.g., melting ice caps, higher ocean levels)
Eighth-Grade Science Curriculum

Forty-five TIMSS 2023 education systems have a national eighth-grade science curriculum. The other systems have curricula developed at the state or provincial level. Much like Grade 4 science, the components included in the curriculum and the degree of flexibility that schools have in implementing the curricula vary across systems. Thirty-six education systems have a digital device policy in science at the eighth-grade level.

Similar to fourth grade, there is more variation in education systems’ coverage of the TIMSS science topics compared to mathematics topics in the eighth grade. However, many topics are represented in participants’ curricula and taught to all or almost all students. This is summarized in Exhibit 5—for additional country comments on these topics, see the TIMSS 2023 Curriculum Questionnaire data .

Exhibit 5. TIMSS 2023 Topics and Skills Represented in Education Systems’ Eighth-Grade Science Curricula

Biology
  • Structures in plants and animal cells and their functions
  • Positive and negative impacts of human behavior on the environment
Chemistry
  • Elements, compounds, and mixtures
  • Separating mixtures
Physics
  • Changes in states of matter (e.g., melting, condensation)
Earth Science
  • None

Biology
  • Photosynthesis and cellular respiration
  • Structures and functions of major organ systems in humans; how these compare to other organisms
  • Diet, exercise, and other lifestyle choices for promoting human health
  • Differences among major taxonomic groups of organisms (e.g., plants, fungi, reptiles, insects)
  • Flow of energy through ecosystems (e.g., producers, consumers, decomposers)
  • Life cycles and patterns of development in different types of organisms (e.g., mammals, birds)
Chemistry
  • Physical and chemical properties of matter (e.g., boiling point, flammability)
  • Structure of atoms and molecules (e.g., electrons, protons, neutrons)
  • Concepts related to solutions (e.g., solvent, solute, concentration)
  • Characteristics of chemical changes (e.g., production of a new substance, color change)
  • Use of physical and chemical properties to classify matter (e.g., metals, nonmetals)
Physics
  • Conductors and movement of electricity through circuits
  • Common forces and their characteristics (e.g., strength, direction)
  • Motion of particles in solids, liquids, and gases
  • Forms of energy and energy transformation (e.g., kinetic, potential, thermal)
  • Thermal energy transfer and thermal conductivity of metals
  • Effects of forces (e.g., floating, sinking, water pressure)
  • Concepts related to motion (e.g., speed, acceleration)
Earth Science
  • Earth’s water cycle
  • Observable phenomena on Earth results from the movements of Earth and the Moon (e.g., seasons, tides, eclipses)
  • The role of the Sun in the Solar System (i.e., provides light/heat to planets and their moons)
  • Earth’s structure and physical characteristics (e.g., crust, mantle, distribution of water)
  • Makeup of Earth’s atmosphere (i.e., nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, carbon dioxide)
  • Management of Earth’s resources (e.g., advantages and disadvantages of different energy sources, methods of waste management)
  • Land and water use (e.g., importance of conservation)

Biology
  • How animals respond to internal and external changes to maintain stable body conditions (e.g., increased heart rate during exercise, sweating in heat)
  • Relationships among populations of organisms in an ecosystem (e.g., competition, predation, symbiosis)
  • Causes, transmission, prevention of, and resistance to diseases
  • DNA and inheritance in plants and animals
  • Variation and natural selection
  • Fossils as evidence for changes in life on Earth over time
  • Cycling of water, oxygen, and carbon in ecosystems
Chemistry
  • The periodic table of elements as a way of organizing the elements
  • Properties of acids and bases
  • Conservation of matter and release/absorption of energy in chemical reactions
  • Chemical bonds between atoms
Physics
  • Properties of light (e.g., speed, transmission through media)
  • Properties of permanent magnets and electromagnets
  • Properties of sound (e.g., amplitude, frequency)
  • Functioning of simple machines (e.g., levers, inclined planes)
Earth Science
  • Geological processes that have shaped Earth’s surface (the rock cycle, formation of fossil fuels)
  • Differences between weather and climate change and evidence for climate change
  • Compare characteristics of Earth to other bodies in the Solar System (e.g., presence of water, distance from Sun)

Biology
  • None
Chemistry
  • None
Physics
  • None
Earth Science
  • None

Country Chapter Highlights

This section summarizes the types of information that TIMSS 2023 participants provide in their TIMSS 2023 Encyclopedia chapters. Visit the chapter pages to learn more about the specifics of each educational system.

Each Encyclopedia chapter includes the following information:

  • Overview of the education system, including the degree of centralization, key decision-makers, and levels of education
  • Use and impact of TIMSS, including participation in previous cycles and how the data have been used
  • The mathematics and science curriculum in primary and lower secondary grades, including a summary of the contents of the curricula that were in effect for students assessed in TIMSS 2023
  • Teacher professional development requirements and programs
  • Monitoring student progress in mathematics and science, including any national assessments in these subjects
  • Special initiatives in mathematics and science education, including any initiatives to promote interest in these subjects, as well as programs to support excelling or struggling students