Students Reaching International Benchmarks of Science Achievement in Grades 4 and 5
Exhibit 2.1.3 provides graphical and numerical representations of the percentages of students reaching the TIMSS International Benchmarks in both assessment years (2023 and 2024). The TIMSS benchmarks are points along the achievement scale that describe the progression of knowledge and skills demonstrated by students with different achievement scores. The Low, Intermediate, High, and Advanced Benchmarks correspond to cut points of 400, 475, 550, and 625 scale score points along the achievement distribution, respectively. Detailed descriptions of these benchmarks with illustrative example items can be found in the TIMSS 2023 International Results and information about the development of the benchmark descriptions is available in Chapter 14 of the TIMSS 2023 Technical Report.
The TIMSS International Benchmarks are ordered along the same dimension of achievement; therefore, students reaching higher benchmarks have also successfully reached the lower benchmarks. The percentages shown in Exhibit 2.1.3 indicate the proportion of students who have reached each benchmark– including those that also reached higher benchmarks. For example, in Slovenia, an estimated 39 percent of fourth grade students reached the High Benchmark. The 39 percent include the eight percent that also reached the Advanced Benchmark, as well as the 31 percent that reached the High Benchmark, but not the Advanced Benchmark. However, all 39 percent reached and surpassed the Low and Intermediate Benchmarks.
Greater percentages of students reached higher benchmarks in Grade 5 compared to Grade 4 when looking at those benchmarks that are close to the average achievement of the country. Benchmarks further away from the mean of the country will show low growth or no growth, as these benchmarks are less sensitive to the overall growth for a country with a much higher or lower average achievement. In Korea, 28 percent of students reached the Advanced Benchmark in fourth grade, whereas 47 percent of them reached the Advanced Benchmark in fifth grade. In North Macedonia, only ten percent of students reached the High Benchmark in fourth grade, increasing to 13 percent by the time the students were in fifth grade. When looking at the graphical results tab, improvement from fourth grade to fifth grade is reflected by a shift of the markers to the right.
While the overall percentage of students reaching each benchmark typically increased, this does not guarantee that every single student who reached a benchmark in the fourth grade also reached the same or a higher benchmark in the fifth grade. However, as the average achievement grows in all countries, more students reached higher benchmarks in 2024 compared to 2023 in all countries.
