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CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

Chapter 4
Students Backgrounds and
Attitudes Towards Mathematics
With its overarching goal of improving student learning in mathemat-
ics and science, TIMSS focuses primarily on curricular, instructional,
and school resource factors in presenting information on the context
in which learning takes place. However, as documented extensively by
previous IEA studies of mathematics achievement,1 student achieve-
ment also is related to home background factors, and to students'
activities and attitudes. Since information on such factors is indispens-
able for interpreting the achievement results, this chapter provides
detailed information about students' home backgrounds and resources
for learning, how they spend their time out of school, their self-con-
dence in learning mathematics, and the value they place on math-
ematics. Also provided is information on trends in attitudes to learning
mathematics across 1995, 1999, and 2003.

What Educational Resources Do Students Have in Their Homes?

IEA's ongoing assessments of student achievement in mathematics

and science (TIMSS) and reading literacy (PIRLS) have shown that in
almost every country students from homes with extensive educational
resources have higher achievement in mathematics and other subjects

1 For results from TIMSS 1999, see Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Gonzalez, E.J., Gregory, K.D., Garden, R.A., OConnor,
K.M., Chrostowski, S.J., and Smith, T.A., (2000), TIMSS 1999 International Mathematics Report: Findings from IEAs
Repeat of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study at the Eighth Grade, Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston
College. For TIMSS 1995 results, see Beaton, A.E., Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Gonzalez, E.J., Kelly, D.L., and Smith,
T.A.(1996), Mathematics Achievement in the Middle School Years: IEAs Third International Mathematics and Science
Study, Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College;

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 125
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

than those from less advantaged backgrounds. For the 2003 data pre-
sented in this report, TIMSS has focused on just a few central variables:
level of parental education, students' educational aspirations, speaking
the language of the test at home, having a range of study aids in the
home, and computer use at home and at school.
Because for most children, parents are their rst and probably
most important educators, the level of education of the parents may
be the most important educational resource in the home. Exhibit 4.1
summarizes eighth-grade students' reports of the highest level of edu-
cation attained by their parents. Ordered alphabetically by country,
this two-page display shows the percentages of students in each of ve
categories of parents' educational level, together with their average
mathematics achievement. Standard errors for percentages and aver-
ages also are shown. The education level of the parent with most edu-
cation was used in assigning students to categories.
Although response rates to questions in the TIMSS question-
naires generally were high, students in some countries had difculty
in answering specic questions, particularly those about their parents'
level of education. The exhibits in this chapter have special notations
on this point. For a country where responses are available for at least
70 but less than 85 percent of the students, an r is included next to
its data. Where responses are available for at least 50 but less than 70
percent of the students, an s is included. Where responses are avail-
able for less than 50 percent, an x replaces the data.
Exhibit 4.1 reveals great diversity in levels of parental education
within and across the TIMSS countries. On average across countries,
the percentages of eighth-grade students reporting that the highest
level of education attained by either parent was as follows: nished
university 28%; nished post-secondary education but not univer-
sity 17%; nished upper secondary 28%; nished lower secondary
15%; and no more than primary (includes not attending school at all)
12%. Countries with the highest percentages (40% or more) of stu-
dents reporting university-educated parents included Armenia, Estonia,

126 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

Israel, Japan, Latvia, Norway, the Russian Federation, Sweden, and the
United States. Among benchmarking participants, Indiana and Ontario
were included. In contrast, countries reporting the highest percent-
ages (40% or more) of parents with no more than primary education
included Botswana, Iran, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia.
The different educational approaches, structures, and organi-
zations across the TIMSS countries make comparisons of educational
levels difcult, and this is exacerbated by high levels of do not know
and missing responses in some countries. Nonetheless, Exhibit 4.1
makes it clear that higher levels of parents' education are associated
with higher eighth-grade student achievement in mathematics in
almost all countries. At 503 score points, the average mathematics
achievement of students with university-educated parents was more
than 90 points greater than the average of students whose parents had
no more than primary education.
As shown in Exhibit 4.2, students generally had high expecta-
tions for university education, particularly those who had a parent with
a university education. More than half the eighth-grade students (54%
on average across countries) reported that they expect to nish uni-
versity, 30 percent do not expect to complete a university education,
and a further 15 percent do not know. Students expecting to nish
university had substantially greater average mathematics achievement
than those without university expectations. Among those expecting
to nish university, the average achievement of those students with a
parent who nished university (21% of students) was 30 points greater
than those without a university-educated parent (33%).
Although speaking more than one language has advantages,
TIMSS 1999 showed that, with some exceptions, countries with large
proportions of students from homes where the language of the test
(and consequently the language of instruction) is not often spoken had
lower average mathematics achievement at eighth grade than those
who spoke it more often. Exhibit 4.3, which presents students' reports
of how frequently they spoke the language of the TIMSS test at home

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 127
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.1: Highest Level of Education of Either Parent* MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Finished University Finished Post-secondary
Finished Upper
or Equivalent Vocational/Technical Education
Secondary Schooling
or Higher but Not University
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia 51 (1.5) 492 (3.6) 22 (0.9) 473 (4.4) 24 (1.1) 467 (4.0)
Australia r 29 (1.3) 543 (5.6) 27 (1.0) 517 (5.8) 25 (1.1) 493 (6.1)
Bahrain 33 (0.7) 427 (2.5) 7 (0.5) 410 (5.7) 23 (0.6) 409 (2.9)
Belgium (Flemish) s 25 (1.4) 568 (3.9) 26 (1.0) 565 (3.0) 31 (1.1) 535 (3.5)
Botswana 10 (0.7) 411 (7.1) 14 (0.6) 378 (4.0) 16 (0.8) 361 (3.5)
Bulgaria 28 (1.3) 516 (6.2) 36 (1.4) 475 (4.7) 29 (1.4) 457 (5.3)
Chile 16 (1.0) 465 (4.7) 10 (0.5) 418 (5.5) 32 (1.1) 391 (3.7)
Chinese Taipei 17 (1.4) 643 (5.1) 11 (0.6) 618 (5.3) 46 (1.0) 583 (4.3)
Cyprus 28 (0.8) 486 (2.6) 14 (0.7) 475 (3.0) 36 (0.9) 459 (2.8)
Egypt 24 (1.1) 464 (4.5) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 11 (0.6) 433 (5.7)
Estonia 40 (1.4) 555 (3.4) 39 (1.1) 525 (3.3) 19 (0.7) 512 (3.8)
Ghana 10 (0.7) 320 (8.1) 17 (0.9) 296 (6.7) 22 (1.0) 292 (5.8)
Hong Kong, SAR 12 (1.0) 612 (7.0) 12 (0.5) 598 (5.2) 36 (0.9) 587 (3.0)
Hungary r 37 (1.6) 573 (3.4) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 49 (1.6) 515 (3.0)
Indonesia 9 (0.9) 457 (8.4) 6 (0.5) 433 (7.7) 24 (1.1) 422 (5.9)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 10 (0.8) 456 (6.6) 10 (0.7) 429 (5.2) 15 (0.8) 434 (4.2)
Israel r 45 (1.3) 531 (3.7) 24 (0.9) 493 (4.0) 18 (0.9) 474 (4.9)
Italy 21 (1.3) 509 (5.6) 5 (0.4) 500 (6.4) 40 (0.9) 495 (3.1)
Japan r 45 (1.4) 601 (2.9) 18 (0.7) 569 (3.8) 36 (1.1) 548 (2.5)
Jordan 35 (1.8) 458 (6.8) 15 (0.8) 439 (4.8) 30 (1.0) 419 (3.3)
Korea, Rep. of 35 (1.2) 619 (3.0) 15 (0.6) 589 (3.6) 41 (1.0) 580 (2.2)
Latvia r 43 (1.8) 532 (4.0) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 34 (1.4) 512 (4.2)
Lebanon 19 (1.2) 465 (4.8) 21 (1.0) 448 (4.5) 19 (0.7) 436 (4.4)
Lithuania r 36 (1.6) 538 (2.9) 31 (1.0) 502 (3.2) 30 (1.3) 473 (3.3)
Macedonia, Rep. of 22 (1.3) 479 (5.4) 19 (0.9) 459 (3.9) 43 (1.2) 435 (3.6)
Malaysia 11 (0.9) 544 (7.4) 20 (0.9) 522 (4.9) 27 (0.9) 519 (4.6)
Moldova, Rep. of 34 (1.4) 485 (4.0) 18 (1.0) 463 (5.5) 21 (1.1) 457 (5.1)
Morocco r 16 (1.3) 406 (4.8) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 17 (0.8) 398 (5.3)
Netherlands r 22 (1.6) 569 (5.7) 32 (1.3) 563 (4.2) 43 (1.9) 526 (4.3)
New Zealand s 28 (1.9) 535 (8.0) 30 (1.5) 502 (6.3) 34 (1.9) 492 (5.3)
Norway s 66 (1.4) 485 (2.6) 16 (1.0) 459 (5.7) 12 (0.9) 451 (4.9)
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 27 (0.9) 426 (4.5) 12 (0.5) 401 (6.1) 36 (0.8) 396 (3.3)
Philippines 19 (1.2) 425 (8.5) 22 (0.8) 394 (5.4) 33 (0.9) 372 (5.8)
Romania 17 (1.8) 533 (5.7) 16 (1.0) 493 (5.8) 47 (1.5) 479 (4.2)
Russian Federation 44 (2.3) 530 (3.6) 26 (1.5) 513 (3.7) 24 (1.2) 484 (4.8)
Saudi Arabia 27 (1.9) 363 (6.3) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 12 (0.5) 339 (7.6)
Scotland x x x x x x x x x x x x
Serbia 20 (1.2) 529 (4.0) 68 (1.2) 475 (2.4) 2 (0.2) ~ ~
Singapore r 16 (0.6) 651 (3.3) 4 (0.3) 624 (5.9) 21 (0.8) 621 (3.6)
Slovak Republic r 34 (1.9) 549 (3.8) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 65 (1.9) 502 (3.4)
Slovenia r 26 (1.3) 522 (3.5) 31 (0.8) 498 (2.9) 34 (1.1) 486 (3.5)
South Africa r 11 (1.0) 352 (16.6) 13 (0.7) 294 (10.0) 30 (0.9) 266 (6.0)
Sweden s 48 (1.8) 525 (3.5) 18 (1.1) 513 (3.9) 22 (1.3) 489 (4.6)
Tunisia 11 (0.9) 437 (5.8) 12 (0.8) 437 (4.1) 16 (0.6) 419 (3.7)
United States r 56 (1.3) 530 (3.6) 9 (0.4) 495 (3.6) 26 (0.9) 488 (3.0)
England x x x x x x x x x x x x
International Avg. 28 (0.2) 503 (0.9) 17 (0.1) 480 (0.9) 28 (0.2) 463 (0.7)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 34 (2.1) 508 (4.0) 14 (1.1) 492 (4.2) 21 (1.1) 482 (4.1)
Indiana State, US r 46 (2.1) 529 (7.4) 10 (0.8) 505 (4.6) 33 (1.3) 505 (5.4)
Ontario Province, Can. s 46 (2.3) 552 (3.8) 37 (1.6) 517 (3.2) 13 (1.1) 510 (4.8)
Quebec Province, Can. r 33 (1.6) 562 (4.7) 34 (0.9) 547 (4.0) 21 (1.1) 529 (2.7)

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
* Based on countries' categorizations to UNESCO's International Standard Classication of Education An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students. An s indicates data
(Operational Manual for ISCED-1997). are available for at least 50 but less than 70% of the students. An x indicates data are available for less
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9). than 50% of the students.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

128 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.1: Highest Level of Education of Either Parent* MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Finished No More Than Primary
Lower Secondary Schooling Schooling
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia 2 (0.4) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Australia r 15 (0.9) 482 (5.2) 3 (0.4) 429 (13.3)
Bahrain 20 (0.7) 387 (3.6) 17 (0.7) 385 (3.5)
Belgium (Flemish) s 11 (0.7) 524 (5.8) 6 (0.7) 462 (12.7)
Botswana 20 (0.8) 366 (3.1) 41 (1.2) 356 (3.0)
Bulgaria 6 (0.7) 443 (11.5) 2 (0.4) ~ ~
Chile 31 (1.0) 354 (3.2) 11 (0.9) 334 (5.3)
Chinese Taipei 21 (1.1) 553 (5.6) 6 (0.5) 537 (7.8)
Cyprus 15 (0.7) 430 (4.0) 7 (0.4) 412 (6.1)
Egypt 29 (0.9) 398 (4.0) 36 (1.4) 387 (3.7)
Estonia 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Ghana 37 (1.2) 261 (5.7) 14 (1.0) 246 (5.5)
Hong Kong, SAR 25 (0.8) 586 (3.5) 15 (0.7) 578 (5.0)
Hungary r 14 (1.3) 473 (7.2) 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Indonesia 22 (0.9) 392 (7.5) 39 (1.6) 406 (5.1)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 22 (0.8) 408 (2.8) 43 (1.6) 395 (2.6)
Israel r 8 (0.6) 457 (7.9) 5 (0.6) 455 (11.1)
Italy 30 (1.1) 459 (4.1) 5 (0.4) 425 (6.5)
Japan r 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 0 (0.0) ~ ~
Jordan 12 (0.9) 403 (5.9) 8 (0.6) 377 (5.7)
Korea, Rep. of 6 (0.4) 551 (4.9) 3 (0.4) 516 (9.8)
Latvia r 23 (1.1) 502 (4.5) 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Lebanon 15 (0.8) 418 (4.6) 26 (1.7) 405 (3.9)
Lithuania r 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Macedonia, Rep. of 11 (0.8) 384 (5.9) 5 (0.6) 367 (12.6)
Malaysia 24 (1.0) 496 (4.9) 18 (1.0) 485 (5.0)
Moldova, Rep. of 17 (0.9) 450 (7.2) 10 (0.8) 420 (8.3)
Morocco r 17 (1.1) 372 (5.6) 50 (1.7) 385 (3.0)
Netherlands r 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 3 (0.4) 502 (11.2)
New Zealand s 5 (0.7) 475 (10.8) 2 (0.4) ~ ~
Norway s 4 (0.5) 419 (9.4) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 18 (0.8) 368 (4.2) 6 (0.5) 339 (6.3)
Philippines 13 (0.5) 348 (6.1) 14 (0.9) 339 (5.3)
Romania 13 (1.6) 465 (9.8) 7 (0.8) 392 (9.5)
Russian Federation 6 (0.5) 471 (8.4) 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Saudi Arabia 19 (1.7) 322 (6.2) 41 (1.7) 320 (4.3)
Scotland x x x x x x x x
Serbia 9 (0.9) 425 (6.0) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Singapore r 48 (0.8) 600 (3.9) 11 (0.5) 571 (6.0)
Slovak Republic r 1 (0.3) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Slovenia r 8 (0.7) 458 (5.5) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
South Africa r 18 (0.7) 244 (4.0) 28 (1.1) 223 (4.4)
Sweden s 9 (0.8) 478 (6.0) 3 (0.5) 441 (11.8)
Tunisia 17 (0.7) 406 (2.8) 44 (1.5) 397 (2.4)
United States r 6 (0.4) 457 (5.6) 3 (0.3) 436 (7.5)
England x x x x x x x x
International Avg. 15 (0.1) 434 (1.1) 12 (0.1) 410 (1.4)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 20 (1.5) 475 (3.6) 11 (0.8) 457 (5.7)
Indiana State, US r 7 (0.9) 470 (8.0) 4 (0.5) 487 (15.0)
Ontario Province, Can. s 3 (0.5) 511 (9.6) 2 (0.4) ~ ~
Quebec Province, Can. r 10 (0.7) 527 (3.8) 1 (0.3) ~ ~

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 129
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.2: Students Educational Aspirations Relative to Parents Educational Level* MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Finish University Finish University
Not Finish University Do Not Know
and Either Parent but Neither Parent
Regardless of Regardless of
Went to University Went to University
Parents' Education Parents' Education
Countries or Equivalent or Equivalent

Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average

Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia r 36 (1.5) 510 (3.5) 18 (0.9) 492 (4.0) 37 (1.5) 456 (4.2) 9 (0.5) 471 (5.7)
Australia s 22 (1.3) 555 (6.2) 22 (1.0) 537 (6.3) 45 (1.4) 483 (4.4) 11 (0.7) 506 (6.4)
Bahrain r 28 (0.7) 440 (2.4) 39 (0.8) 420 (2.5) 16 (0.7) 357 (4.2) 16 (0.6) 379 (4.1)
Belgium (Flemish) s 16 (1.2) 583 (4.0) 17 (0.9) 578 (3.3) 46 (1.6) 528 (3.4) 21 (0.8) 530 (4.8)
Botswana 8 (0.6) 424 (6.4) 36 (0.9) 395 (2.8) 45 (1.0) 344 (3.1) 12 (0.6) 340 (5.7)
Bulgaria 23 (1.3) 527 (6.3) 28 (1.1) 490 (4.6) 37 (1.7) 445 (5.8) 12 (0.9) 462 (5.6)
Chile 15 (1.0) 473 (4.5) 43 (1.1) 397 (3.9) 36 (1.0) 350 (3.3) 7 (0.4) 350 (6.8)
Chinese Taipei 15 (1.3) 650 (5.0) 56 (1.0) 607 (3.4) 16 (0.9) 500 (4.8) 14 (0.6) 543 (6.6)
Cyprus 23 (0.8) 500 (2.9) 40 (0.9) 482 (2.3) 18 (0.8) 406 (3.1) 19 (0.6) 427 (3.5)
Egypt r 23 (1.1) 479 (4.4) 44 (1.2) 423 (3.5) 18 (0.8) 369 (3.9) 14 (0.8) 411 (5.0)
Estonia 25 (1.2) 571 (3.6) 19 (0.7) 549 (3.3) 37 (1.1) 513 (3.6) 19 (0.6) 512 (3.7)
Ghana 6 (0.6) 351 (8.6) 21 (1.4) 318 (6.8) 67 (1.5) 263 (3.9) 7 (0.6) 247 (6.9)
Hong Kong, SAR 11 (0.9) 619 (6.0) 63 (1.1) 599 (2.6) 19 (1.0) 547 (5.9) 8 (0.4) 583 (6.2)
Hungary s 38 (1.8) 583 (3.1) 36 (1.2) 542 (3.5) 19 (1.4) 454 (4.7) 8 (0.7) 491 (10.1)
Indonesia 8 (0.9) 467 (8.4) 46 (1.3) 425 (5.1) 25 (1.2) 390 (7.3) 21 (1.0) 395 (5.8)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 7 (0.6) 472 (8.3) 37 (0.9) 430 (2.8) 16 (0.8) 385 (3.4) 39 (1.1) 398 (2.4)
Israel r 35 (1.1) 540 (4.0) 29 (0.9) 499 (4.1) 23 (0.8) 455 (4.8) 14 (0.6) 489 (4.7)
Italy 15 (1.1) 522 (5.7) 35 (1.1) 507 (2.8) 38 (1.2) 458 (3.8) 12 (0.6) 455 (6.1)
Japan r 29 (1.3) 622 (2.9) 17 (0.7) 594 (3.3) 37 (1.2) 540 (2.3) 18 (0.7) 550 (4.1)
Jordan 27 (1.6) 472 (7.7) 35 (1.2) 437 (3.9) 13 (0.8) 375 (4.6) 24 (1.0) 409 (3.9)
Korea, Rep. of 31 (1.2) 626 (2.8) 48 (0.9) 593 (2.1) 11 (0.5) 514 (4.3) 9 (0.4) 559 (5.2)
Latvia s 35 (1.7) 540 (3.7) 34 (1.5) 522 (3.3) 16 (1.3) 506 (7.1) 15 (0.9) 489 (6.3)
Lebanon 16 (1.1) 473 (5.4) 52 (1.2) 439 (3.6) 16 (0.9) 403 (3.8) 16 (0.9) 407 (4.8)
Lithuania r 33 (1.6) 546 (3.0) 42 (1.3) 503 (2.9) 26 (1.2) 461 (3.9) 0 (0.0) ~ ~
Macedonia, Rep. of 20 (1.3) 489 (5.2) 40 (1.1) 463 (3.0) 30 (1.1) 394 (5.2) 10 (0.8) 401 (6.7)
Malaysia 10 (0.9) 549 (7.6) 54 (1.5) 516 (3.9) 26 (1.3) 486 (5.2) 10 (0.7) 509 (6.1)
Moldova, Rep. of r 23 (1.3) 495 (4.1) 23 (1.0) 477 (5.3) 37 (1.4) 446 (5.3) 17 (0.9) 440 (5.6)
Morocco r 13 (1.2) 414 (5.2) 38 (1.2) 398 (3.8) 20 (1.1) 376 (4.1) 29 (1.3) 382 (3.5)
Netherlands r 13 (1.3) 585 (6.0) 16 (1.5) 589 (5.1) 55 (2.5) 527 (3.8) 16 (1.1) 541 (6.6)
New Zealand s 17 (1.6) 558 (7.8) 22 (1.3) 519 (7.2) 36 (1.9) 484 (5.4) 25 (1.3) 494 (6.8)
Norway s 47 (1.3) 490 (2.8) 13 (0.9) 469 (5.7) 19 (1.0) 437 (5.1) 21 (0.8) 467 (4.5)
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 20 (0.8) 440 (4.4) 34 (0.9) 412 (3.1) 19 (0.8) 350 (4.3) 26 (0.8) 379 (3.6)
Philippines 15 (1.2) 438 (7.9) 26 (1.2) 400 (5.4) 44 (1.7) 352 (5.8) 15 (0.9) 365 (6.3)
Romania 14 (1.6) 550 (5.0) 30 (1.2) 520 (4.0) 41 (1.7) 450 (4.9) 16 (1.2) 438 (7.3)
Russian Federation 35 (2.2) 543 (3.5) 30 (1.4) 515 (4.5) 21 (1.2) 475 (5.7) 13 (0.6) 474 (3.9)
Saudi Arabia r 24 (1.9) 374 (6.3) 45 (1.6) 337 (5.5) 13 (1.0) 310 (5.2) 19 (1.7) 324 (6.3)
Scotland x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
Serbia 15 (1.1) 547 (3.7) 27 (0.9) 524 (2.8) 48 (1.3) 445 (2.9) 10 (0.6) 429 (5.2)
Singapore r 13 (0.5) 655 (3.3) 43 (1.1) 627 (2.9) 28 (1.0) 566 (5.0) 15 (0.5) 603 (5.1)
Slovak Republic r 25 (1.8) 570 (3.9) 27 (1.1) 542 (3.8) 36 (1.5) 479 (3.1) 13 (0.8) 471 (5.8)
Slovenia r 18 (1.1) 544 (3.5) 26 (0.9) 525 (3.0) 42 (1.1) 464 (2.7) 14 (0.8) 486 (4.9)
South Africa r 8 (1.0) 391 (16.2) 26 (0.9) 293 (7.8) 54 (1.2) 240 (3.7) 12 (0.8) 232 (6.5)
Sweden s 32 (1.4) 536 (3.8) 14 (0.8) 513 (5.4) 33 (1.5) 482 (3.5) 21 (0.9) 502 (4.2)
Tunisia 8 (0.7) 453 (5.7) 46 (1.1) 417 (2.8) 26 (0.8) 396 (2.7) 21 (0.7) 406 (2.5)
United States r 48 (1.3) 535 (3.7) 27 (0.8) 496 (3.3) 16 (0.7) 458 (3.3) 9 (0.3) 494 (4.1)
England x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x
International Avg. 21 (0.2) 516 (0.9) 33 (0.2) 485 (0.7) 30 (0.2) 434 (0.7) 15 (0.1) 447 (0.8)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 23 (1.7) 519 (4.3) 27 (1.3) 503 (4.2) 18 (1.2) 461 (4.4) 32 (1.3) 469 (3.1)
Indiana State, US r 40 (2.4) 535 (7.5) 33 (1.5) 512 (5.0) 16 (1.5) 472 (4.9) 11 (1.0) 497 (7.2)
Ontario Province, Can. s 39 (2.2) 558 (3.3) 26 (1.4) 534 (3.5) 22 (1.7) 491 (3.4) 13 (0.9) 519 (4.4)
Quebec Province, Can. r 26 (1.6) 568 (4.8) 28 (1.1) 551 (4.0) 35 (1.9) 525 (2.4) 11 (0.7) 550 (4.6)

130 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

in relation to their average mathematics achievement, shows that this

remains true for the TIMSS 2003 countries, and holds also for math-
ematics achievement at the fourth grade. At both eighth and fourth
grades, students from homes where the language of the test is always
or almost always spoken had higher average achievement than those
who spoke it less frequently.
Whereas in most countries a large majority of students at each
grade are from homes where the language of the test is spoken fre-
quently, on average, internationally about 21 percent of students
were from homes where the language of the test was spoken only
sometimes, or never. Countries where the majority of students speak
the language of the test so infrequently included Botswana, Ghana,
Indonesia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa at
the eighth grade, and Morocco, the Philippines, and Singapore at the
fourth grade. Even though most of these countries had relatively low
mathematics achievement, Singapore was a notable exception, with
average achievement among those sometimes or never speaking the lan-
guage of the test at home well above the international average for
students always speaking the language of the test at home.
Many countries tested in more than one language in order
to cover their whole student population. These included Bahrain
(Arabic and English), Egypt (Arabic, English, and French), Estonia
(Estonian and Russian), Hong Kong SAR (Chinese and English),
Israel (Hebrew and Arabic), Latvia (Latvian and Russian), Lebanon
(French and English), Macedonia (Macedonian and Albanian),
Moldova (Moldavian and Russian), New Zealand (English and Maori
at grade 4 only), Norway (Bokml and Nynorsk), the Palestinian
National Authority (Arabic and English), Romania (Romanian and
Hungarian), the Slovak Republic (Slovak and Hungarian), and South
Africa (English and Afrikaans). Among benchmarking participants,
the Basque Country, Spain tested in Basque and Castilian, and the
Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec in English and French.
However, in countries like Botswana, Ghana, Indonesia, Morocco,

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 131
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.3: Students Speak Language of the Test at Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Always Almost Always Sometimes Never
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia 80 (1.0) 477 (3.3) 16 (0.8) 491 (4.0) 4 (0.5) 461 (8.4) 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Australia 80 (2.3) 503 (4.1) 12 (1.1) 510 (10.9) 7 (1.3) 534 (15.1) 1 (0.4) ~ ~
Bahrain 66 (1.1) 398 (2.2) 15 (0.7) 424 (3.4) 15 (0.7) 399 (3.7) 4 (0.5) 384 (5.9)
Belgium (Flemish) 77 (1.3) 547 (2.7) 11 (0.6) 527 (6.9) 9 (0.8) 483 (8.3) 4 (0.6) 513 (8.0)
Botswana 5 (0.3) 375 (10.3) 6 (0.4) 402 (8.0) 80 (0.8) 367 (2.6) 9 (0.6) 329 (6.2)
Bulgaria 81 (2.0) 477 (4.0) 10 (0.8) 493 (9.5) 8 (1.4) 454 (12.1) 1 (0.3) ~ ~
Chile 87 (0.7) 390 (3.3) 9 (0.5) 386 (4.5) 4 (0.4) 334 (8.2) 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Chinese Taipei 44 (1.5) 609 (3.9) 36 (1.0) 586 (4.7) 19 (1.2) 537 (8.6) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Cyprus 79 (0.8) 460 (1.8) 14 (0.6) 469 (4.6) 6 (0.4) 447 (6.7) 2 (0.2) ~ ~
Egypt 61 (1.3) 403 (3.7) 14 (0.8) 428 (5.6) 22 (1.0) 415 (4.4) 3 (0.3) 389 (10.6)
Estonia 90 (0.6) 532 (3.2) 8 (0.4) 532 (4.5) 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Ghana 23 (1.1) 272 (5.3) 10 (0.7) 295 (8.7) 63 (1.3) 285 (4.6) 5 (0.9) 189 (12.2)
Hong Kong, SAR 77 (0.8) 596 (2.8) 15 (0.6) 566 (6.1) 7 (0.5) 541 (8.5) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Hungary 95 (0.4) 529 (3.2) 4 (0.4) 533 (9.3) 0 (0.1) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Indonesia 22 (2.0) 406 (7.1) 11 (0.7) 420 (7.5) 57 (2.0) 410 (5.3) 10 (0.8) 412 (7.0)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 55 (3.2) 422 (3.0) 9 (0.6) 428 (4.8) 21 (1.8) 392 (3.4) 15 (1.9) 391 (5.4)
Israel 79 (1.0) 496 (3.6) 15 (0.7) 506 (5.8) 5 (0.5) 484 (6.1) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Italy 94 (0.5) 486 (3.1) 3 (0.3) 475 (8.2) 3 (0.3) 424 (10.2) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Japan 94 (0.4) 572 (2.1) 4 (0.3) 542 (6.8) 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Jordan 72 (1.2) 420 (3.8) 13 (0.7) 459 (7.6) 11 (0.7) 424 (5.8) 4 (0.5) 423 (17.7)
Korea, Rep. of 71 (0.8) 588 (2.5) 28 (0.8) 595 (2.9) 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 0 (0.0) ~ ~
Latvia 77 (1.9) 511 (3.4) 14 (0.9) 509 (4.1) 6 (1.3) 486 (8.0) 2 (0.5) ~ ~
Lebanon 5 (0.5) 425 (8.1) 12 (0.7) 442 (5.1) 68 (1.1) 433 (3.2) 15 (0.8) 428 (5.0)
Lithuania 89 (1.0) 501 (2.6) 9 (0.5) 508 (5.5) 2 (0.4) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Macedonia, Rep. of 89 (1.4) 438 (3.5) 4 (0.4) 429 (8.8) 5 (0.9) 394 (12.2) 2 (0.6) ~ ~
Malaysia 51 (2.1) 490 (4.1) 14 (0.8) 510 (4.5) 28 (1.9) 530 (6.3) 7 (0.8) 551 (9.7)
Moldova, Rep. of 68 (1.6) 461 (4.6) 18 (0.9) 466 (5.3) 13 (1.2) 448 (5.7) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Morocco 35 (1.8) 375 (3.3) 18 (0.9) 403 (4.4) 39 (1.4) 391 (3.2) 8 (0.8) 394 (6.6)
Netherlands 83 (1.3) 542 (3.8) 12 (1.0) 518 (7.4) 4 (0.5) 491 (12.2) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
New Zealand 80 (1.3) 495 (5.4) 12 (0.8) 487 (7.2) 6 (0.8) 508 (13.4) 1 (0.3) ~ ~
Norway 85 (0.8) 463 (2.4) 10 (0.5) 463 (5.2) 3 (0.4) 427 (8.8) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 73 (1.3) 391 (3.2) 11 (0.6) 410 (5.9) 13 (1.0) 382 (5.6) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Philippines 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 4 (0.3) 386 (10.8) 80 (1.0) 383 (5.3) 14 (0.9) 351 (5.7)
Romania 86 (1.8) 475 (4.9) 8 (0.6) 493 (7.0) 4 (1.0) 453 (17.3) 2 (1.0) ~ ~
Russian Federation 86 (2.0) 507 (3.9) 10 (1.0) 524 (6.5) 4 (1.1) 492 (15.0) 1 (0.3) ~ ~
Saudi Arabia 100 (0.0) 332 (4.6) 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 0 (0.0) ~ ~ 0 (0.0) ~ ~
Scotland 92 (0.6) 499 (3.7) 5 (0.5) 508 (8.0) 3 (0.3) 446 (10.4) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Serbia 93 (0.7) 477 (2.6) 5 (0.4) 486 (7.1) 2 (0.4) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Singapore 23 (0.6) 625 (3.8) 19 (0.6) 620 (3.5) 49 (0.8) 595 (4.3) 8 (0.4) 581 (5.7)
Slovak Republic 79 (1.6) 509 (3.5) 12 (0.7) 518 (5.8) 7 (1.0) 480 (8.0) 2 (0.4) ~ ~
Slovenia 80 (1.3) 497 (2.4) 11 (0.7) 488 (3.8) 6 (0.7) 464 (7.1) 2 (0.5) ~ ~
South Africa 18 (1.7) 349 (14.6) 9 (0.7) 319 (13.0) 57 (1.7) 247 (3.1) 15 (1.0) 192 (3.9)
Sweden 84 (1.3) 504 (2.5) 10 (0.8) 491 (5.0) 5 (0.7) 457 (8.8) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Tunisia 51 (1.7) 408 (2.6) 13 (0.8) 429 (5.1) 28 (1.3) 406 (2.7) 9 (0.9) 411 (5.3)
United States 83 (0.9) 509 (3.1) 10 (0.5) 496 (5.7) 5 (0.4) 464 (6.8) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
England 87 (1.6) 501 (5.3) 10 (1.3) 504 (6.3) 2 (0.6) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
International Avg. 68 (0.2) 472 (0.7) 11 (0.1) 477 (1.0) 17 (0.1) 441 (1.4) 4 (0.1) 396 (2.0)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 65 (1.6) 487 (3.3) 25 (1.1) 490 (3.5) 8 (0.7) 485 (5.1) 3 (0.5) 476 (10.2)
Indiana State, US 88 (0.9) 509 (5.1) 7 (0.8) 514 (9.0) 4 (0.4) 488 (11.6) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Ontario Province, Can. 72 (2.0) 520 (2.8) 16 (1.1) 517 (4.8) 9 (0.9) 530 (9.2) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Quebec Province, Can. 72 (1.8) 545 (3.2) 19 (0.9) 540 (5.0) 7 (0.9) 532 (5.8) 2 (0.4) ~ ~

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9).
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

132 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.3: Students Speak Language of the Test at Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 133
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

the Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa, testing in all possible

dialects and languages was prohibitive.
Earlier IEA studies have shown that students from homes with
extensive literacy resources have higher achievement than those from
less advantaged backgrounds. For example, TIMSS 1999 has shown
a consistent relationship between number of books in the home and
student achievement in both mathematics and science at the eighth
grade,2 and PIRLS 2001 demonstrated a similar relationship with
reading literacy at the fourth grade.3 Providing further information on
this topic, Exhibit 4.4 shows for each country at both eighth and fourth
grades the percentage of students at each of ve ranges of numbers of
books in the home in relation to average mathematics achievement.
This exhibit reveals a wide range both across and within each country.
For example, the percentage of eighth-grade students reporting more
than 200 books in their homes exceeded 30 percent in Australia,
Estonia, Hungary, and Sweden, whereas in Botswana, Egypt, Ghana,
Indonesia, Iran, Morocco, the Philippines, and South Africa, more than
30 percent of students were from homes with 10 books or less. The
situation among fourth-grade students was similar.
Across countries, on average, 15 percent of eighth-grade student
were from homes with more than 200 books, 13 percent from homes
with 101-200 books, 27 percent from homes with 26-100 books,
26 percent from homes with 11-25 books, and 18 percent with 0-10
books. There also was a clear-cut relationship, on average, between
number of books in the home and mathematics achievement. Eighth-
grade students reporting more than 200 books in their homes had
an average score of 498 on the mathematics scale, compared with an
average of just 429 for students reporting 10 books or less, a difference
of 69 points. If anything, the difference at fourth grade was even larger,
ranging from 521 for students reporting more than 200 books to 457
for students reporting 10 books or less.
In addition to literacy resources such as books, TIMSS has found
that having study aids such as a computer or a study desk or table at

2 Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Gonzalez, E.J., Gregory, K.D., Garden, R.A., OConnor, K.M, Chrostowski, S.J., and Smith, T.A. (2000), TIMSS
1999 International Mathematics Report: Findings from IEAs Repeat of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study at the Eighth
Grade, Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College; Martin, M.O., Mullis, I.V.S., Gonzalez, E.J., Gregory, K.D., Smith, T.A., Chrostowski, S.J., Garden,
R.A., and OConnor, K.M. (2000), TIMSS 1999 International Science Report: Findings from IEAs Repeat of the Third International Mathematics
and Science Study at the Eighth Grade, Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College.
3 Mullis, I.V.S., Martin, M.O., Gonzalez, E.J., and Kennedy, A.M. (2003), PIRLS 2001 International Report: IEAs Study of Reading Literacy
Achievement in Primary Schools in 35 Countries, Chestnut Hill, MA: Boston College.

134 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

home was associated with higher student achievement. Exhibit 4.5

shows the percentage of eighth- and fourth-grade students in each
country that had a computer or study desk or table, together with
their average mathematics achievement. About 60 percent of eighth-
grade students, on average, reported having a computer at home, and
a slightly greater percentage of fourth-grade students (65%). However,
there were great differences between countries. For 17 of the partici-
pants Australia, Belgium (Flemish), Chinese Taipei, England, Hong
Kong SAR, Israel, Korea, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway,
Scotland, Singapore, Sweden, the United States, Indiana, Ontario, and
Quebec virtually all eighth-grade students (90% or more) reported
having a computer at home. In contrast, less than 20 percent of eighth-
grade students in Armenia, Botswana, Egypt, Indonesia, Moldova,
and Morocco reported having a computer. The mathematics achieve-
ment difference between students with a computer at home and those
without was substantial on average 39 scale score points at eighth
grade and 27 points at fourth grade.
Perhaps not surprisingly, somewhat greater percentages of stu-
dents reported having a study desk or table at home 83 percent and
80 percent at eighth and fourth grades, respectively. In many countries
(20 at eighth grade and 9 at fourth grade), more than 90 percent of
students reported having a study desk. Having such a study facility
was associated with higher average mathematics achievement at both
grades a 35 point difference at eighth grade and a 27 point difference
at fourth grade.
Because having a computer at home does not necessarily mean
that students have access to it, TIMSS also asked students where they
actually use a computer at home, at school, or some other place.
Exhibit 4.6 summarizes these responses, presenting countries in order
of the percentage of students that reported using a computer both at
home and at school. At the eighth grade, 39 percent of the students,
on average, across countries reported using a computer both at home
and at school. Eighteen percent reported using a computer at home

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 135
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.4: Books in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
More than 200 Books 101-200 Books 26-100 Books
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia 20 (1.0) 497 (4.1) 13 (0.6) 497 (4.8) 28 (0.7) 483 (3.4)
Australia 31 (1.4) 526 (5.0) 23 (0.8) 514 (4.6) 30 (1.0) 501 (6.0)
Bahrain 17 (0.5) 416 (3.1) 14 (0.6) 426 (3.7) 31 (0.8) 407 (2.1)
Belgium (Flemish) 12 (0.6) 560 (4.6) 15 (0.6) 558 (3.6) 34 (0.9) 544 (2.9)
Botswana 4 (0.5) 401 (12.5) 5 (0.3) 400 (6.9) 13 (0.6) 386 (5.8)
Bulgaria 28 (1.3) 502 (6.3) 18 (0.9) 492 (5.3) 25 (1.1) 472 (4.3)
Chile 5 (0.4) 461 (5.9) 7 (0.4) 444 (5.1) 27 (0.9) 415 (3.7)
Chinese Taipei 15 (1.0) 639 (4.9) 14 (0.6) 622 (4.8) 30 (0.7) 600 (4.7)
Cyprus 11 (0.5) 492 (4.6) 16 (0.7) 478 (3.6) 35 (0.8) 472 (2.5)
Egypt 6 (0.4) 433 (8.8) 6 (0.4) 426 (9.5) 18 (0.7) 426 (4.8)
Estonia 45 (1.2) 549 (3.3) 18 (0.6) 534 (3.6) 23 (0.7) 515 (3.5)
Ghana 10 (0.6) 275 (7.2) 6 (0.4) 300 (9.6) 16 (0.7) 294 (7.8)
Hong Kong, SAR 9 (0.6) 608 (6.3) 8 (0.4) 611 (4.6) 27 (0.6) 595 (3.6)
Hungary 31 (1.2) 567 (3.3) 22 (0.7) 543 (3.7) 29 (1.0) 516 (3.5)
Indonesia 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 3 (0.3) 443 (10.2) 19 (0.7) 423 (5.8)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 7 (0.5) 456 (5.8) 5 (0.3) 452 (5.2) 17 (0.8) 432 (3.6)
Israel 22 (0.9) 520 (4.6) 22 (0.7) 514 (3.9) 33 (0.8) 492 (4.2)
Italy 19 (0.9) 516 (4.7) 14 (0.6) 501 (4.2) 25 (0.7) 489 (3.8)
Japan 17 (0.7) 604 (3.5) 17 (0.5) 587 (3.5) 32 (0.8) 571 (2.4)
Jordan 9 (0.6) 456 (9.1) 8 (0.5) 463 (7.7) 28 (0.9) 445 (4.8)
Korea, Rep. of 19 (0.8) 636 (3.3) 22 (0.7) 608 (2.9) 33 (0.8) 586 (2.4)
Latvia 28 (1.3) 528 (4.3) 25 (0.8) 515 (4.2) 31 (1.1) 505 (3.3)
Lebanon 8 (0.6) 447 (6.6) 8 (0.8) 465 (6.5) 25 (1.0) 457 (3.9)
Lithuania 12 (0.8) 540 (5.2) 15 (0.7) 532 (3.9) 34 (0.9) 509 (2.4)
Macedonia, Rep. of 8 (0.7) 452 (8.2) 8 (0.6) 475 (6.6) 28 (0.9) 465 (3.8)
Malaysia 5 (0.5) 555 (8.0) 9 (0.6) 539 (6.0) 28 (0.8) 524 (4.4)
Moldova, Rep. of 8 (0.8) 488 (6.7) 9 (0.6) 483 (7.0) 23 (1.0) 471 (4.6)
Morocco 5 (0.6) 396 (11.4) 4 (0.3) 403 (6.6) 21 (0.9) 391 (4.5)
Netherlands 21 (1.4) 565 (5.3) 19 (0.9) 558 (4.6) 31 (1.3) 539 (3.8)
New Zealand 25 (1.5) 527 (8.0) 22 (1.1) 508 (4.4) 31 (1.0) 489 (5.2)
Norway 27 (1.2) 481 (3.2) 22 (0.7) 477 (3.1) 33 (0.9) 460 (3.0)
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 7 (0.5) 402 (7.9) 6 (0.4) 420 (7.1) 24 (0.7) 413 (4.2)
Philippines 3 (0.3) 372 (9.4) 4 (0.3) 403 (12.4) 17 (0.8) 410 (7.2)
Romania 12 (1.2) 529 (6.6) 13 (1.1) 517 (5.1) 29 (1.2) 489 (4.1)
Russian Federation 21 (1.3) 534 (4.4) 26 (0.9) 521 (3.6) 32 (1.4) 505 (4.4)
Saudi Arabia 10 (0.7) 347 (8.5) 9 (0.9) 355 (9.0) 25 (1.0) 347 (5.7)
Scotland 17 (1.0) 539 (5.6) 16 (0.7) 527 (4.0) 29 (0.8) 504 (3.8)
Serbia 6 (0.5) 519 (5.8) 9 (0.5) 534 (4.9) 27 (1.0) 500 (3.2)
Singapore 14 (0.5) 642 (3.5) 16 (0.5) 627 (3.7) 33 (0.7) 617 (3.2)
Slovak Republic 12 (0.8) 551 (5.4) 18 (0.8) 543 (3.9) 41 (0.9) 514 (3.1)
Slovenia 13 (0.7) 517 (5.3) 15 (0.7) 513 (4.4) 38 (0.9) 501 (2.1)
South Africa 6 (0.5) 324 (17.5) 5 (0.4) 325 (19.5) 14 (0.7) 304 (11.7)
Sweden 32 (1.3) 531 (2.7) 21 (0.6) 513 (3.1) 27 (0.9) 485 (3.4)
Tunisia 4 (0.4) 453 (7.8) 6 (0.5) 436 (6.6) 22 (0.9) 422 (3.4)
United States 24 (0.9) 541 (4.4) 18 (0.5) 528 (3.4) 28 (0.6) 506 (3.0)
England 24 (1.1) 539 (6.9) 18 (1.0) 518 (6.7) 27 (1.0) 494 (5.5)
International Avg. 15 (0.1) 498 (1.0) 13 (0.1) 492 (1.0) 27 (0.1) 476 (0.6)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 25 (1.4) 509 (3.5) 20 (0.9) 497 (3.6) 36 (1.3) 486 (3.1)
Indiana State, US 19 (1.6) 541 (8.8) 17 (0.9) 526 (6.8) 32 (1.0) 514 (4.6)
Ontario Province, Can. 28 (1.6) 544 (3.4) 21 (0.9) 532 (3.5) 31 (1.1) 513 (3.7)
Quebec Province, Can. 13 (0.8) 561 (4.9) 16 (0.9) 563 (5.5) 33 (0.9) 547 (3.1)

136 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.4: Books in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 137
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.4: Books in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

Background data provided by students. An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.
A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.

138 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.4: Books in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
11-25 Books 0-10 Books
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia r 22 (0.9) 456 (5.2) 17 (1.2) 434 (6.3)
Australia 13 (0.9) 477 (5.7) 6 (0.8) 437 (9.6)
Belgium (Flemish) 23 (0.9) 537 (3.0) 8 (0.5) 512 (5.2)
Chinese Taipei 24 (0.8) 555 (2.1) 17 (0.8) 527 (2.8)
Cyprus 29 (1.0) 506 (3.3) 11 (0.7) 467 (5.1)
England 17 (1.0) 497 (4.5) 8 (0.8) 466 (5.9)
Hong Kong, SAR 30 (0.8) 572 (3.4) 25 (1.4) 561 (4.0)
Hungary 22 (0.9) 500 (3.8) 8 (0.7) 469 (6.0)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 22 (1.2) 410 (4.4) 55 (2.1) 374 (4.0)
Italy 33 (1.0) 498 (4.4) 18 (0.9) 489 (7.0)
Japan 28 (0.8) 549 (2.7) 12 (0.8) 528 (3.8)
Latvia 18 (0.9) 517 (4.4) 6 (0.7) 488 (7.6)
Lithuania 34 (1.1) 526 (3.4) 13 (0.9) 491 (5.0)
Moldova, Rep. of 31 (1.4) 502 (6.8) 30 (1.4) 477 (6.3)
Morocco r 26 (1.5) 352 (5.4) 60 (2.1) 352 (6.4)
Netherlands 21 (1.1) 529 (3.0) 9 (0.8) 500 (6.5)
New Zealand 17 (0.6) 464 (4.4) 9 (0.7) 430 (4.8)
Norway 17 (0.8) 428 (5.6) 7 (0.5) 400 (5.4)
Philippines 27 (1.1) 391 (8.7) 48 (2.1) 332 (5.2)
Russian Federation 27 (1.5) 522 (5.1) 10 (0.7) 499 (8.4)
Scotland 20 (1.1) 469 (4.1) 11 (0.7) 445 (5.3)
Singapore 22 (0.9) 569 (4.9) 11 (0.8) 528 (8.7)
Slovenia 28 (1.1) 466 (3.7) 7 (0.6) 422 (6.1)
Tunisia r 29 (1.5) 359 (5.2) 41 (2.3) 321 (5.5)
United States 22 (0.6) 496 (2.7) 13 (0.6) 473 (3.0)
International Avg. 24 (0.2) 486 (1.0) 18 (0.2) 457 (1.2)
Benchmarking Participants
Indiana State, US 19 (1.2) 515 (3.7) 10 (0.8) 490 (6.7)
Ontario Province, Can. 16 (1.3) 494 (4.2) 7 (0.9) 463 (5.7)
Quebec Province, Can. 27 (0.8) 496 (2.9) 11 (0.7) 478 (4.7)

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 139
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.5: Computer and Study Desk/Table in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Have Have Do Not Have
Do Not Have Computer
Computer Study Desk/Table Study Desk/Table
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Armenia 19 (0.7) 479 (4.4) 81 (0.7) 479 (3.3) 64 (1.1) 489 (3.1) 36 (1.1) 461 (4.0)
Australia 96 (0.3) 508 (4.6) 4 (0.3) 448 (9.6) 92 (0.5) 508 (4.8) 8 (0.5) 484 (5.8)
Bahrain 81 (0.6) 407 (1.6) 19 (0.6) 379 (3.7) 80 (0.7) 407 (1.9) 20 (0.7) 382 (3.5)
Belgium (Flemish) 95 (0.5) 541 (2.7) 5 (0.5) 476 (8.7) 95 (0.4) 540 (2.7) 5 (0.4) 495 (6.2)
Botswana 16 (0.8) 370 (7.2) 84 (0.8) 369 (2.3) 68 (0.8) 376 (2.7) 32 (0.8) 354 (3.6)
Bulgaria 37 (1.5) 493 (5.7) 63 (1.5) 470 (4.7) 79 (1.2) 482 (4.4) 21 (1.2) 458 (7.6)
Chile 39 (1.4) 423 (3.6) 61 (1.4) 365 (3.2) 56 (1.0) 403 (3.3) 44 (1.0) 368 (3.8)
Chinese Taipei 91 (0.8) 592 (4.4) 9 (0.8) 512 (6.0) 93 (0.5) 589 (4.5) 7 (0.5) 537 (6.9)
Cyprus 82 (0.6) 470 (1.5) 18 (0.6) 417 (4.2) 95 (0.3) 464 (1.5) 5 (0.3) 391 (6.6)
Egypt 16 (0.8) 443 (5.5) 84 (0.8) 403 (3.6) 80 (1.0) 423 (3.4) 20 (1.0) 360 (4.0)
Estonia 67 (1.1) 540 (3.1) 33 (1.1) 515 (3.3) 93 (0.6) 531 (3.1) 7 (0.6) 532 (5.6)
Ghana 24 (1.1) 272 (6.4) 76 (1.1) 284 (4.8) 60 (1.5) 298 (4.8) 40 (1.5) 258 (5.1)
Hong Kong, SAR 97 (0.3) 588 (3.3) 3 (0.3) 560 (8.5) 75 (0.8) 590 (3.4) 25 (0.8) 577 (4.0)
Hungary 75 (1.0) 542 (3.0) 25 (1.0) 497 (4.9) 98 (0.3) 531 (3.1) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Indonesia 17 (1.3) 431 (5.4) 83 (1.3) 412 (4.9) 75 (1.2) 418 (4.7) 25 (1.2) 393 (5.6)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 27 (1.4) 433 (4.0) 73 (1.4) 407 (2.3) 50 (1.6) 426 (2.5) 50 (1.6) 399 (2.7)
Israel 92 (0.7) 501 (3.4) 8 (0.7) 442 (9.3) 97 (0.3) 498 (3.5) 3 (0.3) 464 (9.4)
Italy 84 (0.7) 490 (3.2) 16 (0.7) 453 (4.4) 88 (0.6) 486 (3.2) 12 (0.6) 467 (4.8)
Japan 82 (0.8) 576 (2.1) 18 (0.8) 542 (3.1) 96 (0.3) 572 (2.0) 4 (0.3) 537 (8.0)
Jordan 41 (1.7) 454 (5.8) 59 (1.7) 407 (3.6) 73 (1.3) 435 (4.3) 27 (1.3) 400 (5.2)
Korea, Rep. of 98 (0.3) 591 (2.1) 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 97 (0.3) 592 (2.1) 3 (0.3) 516 (9.0)
Latvia 43 (1.6) 523 (3.4) 57 (1.6) 499 (3.5) 94 (0.6) 510 (3.3) 6 (0.6) 498 (6.3)
Lebanon 59 (1.5) 444 (3.5) 41 (1.5) 419 (3.6) 71 (1.2) 440 (3.3) 29 (1.2) 418 (3.5)
Lithuania 48 (1.6) 522 (2.9) 52 (1.6) 482 (2.6) 97 (0.3) 502 (2.6) 3 (0.3) 471 (12.0)
Macedonia, Rep. of 42 (1.6) 452 (4.9) 58 (1.6) 427 (3.4) 87 (0.8) 442 (3.6) 13 (0.8) 401 (6.5)
Malaysia 57 (1.4) 525 (4.8) 43 (1.4) 487 (3.9) 87 (0.6) 511 (4.2) 13 (0.6) 489 (5.8)
Moldova, Rep. of 18 (1.0) 465 (5.7) 82 (1.0) 460 (4.1) 80 (1.2) 463 (4.2) 20 (1.2) 449 (5.2)
Morocco 18 (1.2) 391 (4.6) 82 (1.2) 388 (2.7) 73 (1.4) 392 (2.6) 27 (1.4) 379 (4.4)
Netherlands 98 (0.3) 538 (3.9) 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 99 (0.2) 537 (3.9) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
New Zealand 91 (0.7) 497 (5.5) 9 (0.7) 471 (7.6) 87 (0.8) 499 (5.3) 13 (0.8) 465 (7.2)
Norway 96 (0.4) 464 (2.4) 4 (0.4) 415 (9.5) 98 (0.3) 463 (2.4) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 41 (1.2) 409 (4.1) 59 (1.2) 380 (3.0) 77 (1.3) 396 (3.2) 23 (1.3) 377 (4.4)
Philippines 21 (1.1) 391 (8.1) 79 (1.1) 376 (5.1) 75 (1.1) 386 (5.4) 25 (1.1) 358 (5.6)
Romania 32 (1.9) 507 (5.8) 68 (1.9) 465 (4.6) 77 (1.8) 492 (4.3) 23 (1.8) 432 (6.9)
Russian Federation 30 (2.0) 533 (4.8) 70 (2.0) 498 (3.6) 92 (0.5) 511 (3.8) 8 (0.5) 484 (5.9)
Saudi Arabia 57 (1.9) 342 (5.5) 43 (1.9) 320 (3.7) 61 (1.5) 341 (5.2) 39 (1.5) 321 (4.2)
Scotland 91 (0.7) 502 (3.7) 9 (0.7) 464 (6.3) 82 (0.8) 503 (3.8) 18 (0.8) 475 (5.3)
Serbia 44 (1.4) 499 (3.5) 56 (1.4) 463 (2.5) 91 (0.6) 481 (2.6) 9 (0.6) 442 (6.6)
Singapore 94 (0.4) 610 (3.4) 6 (0.4) 538 (7.4) 91 (0.5) 609 (3.4) 9 (0.5) 570 (6.2)
Slovak Republic 67 (1.2) 519 (3.5) 33 (1.2) 485 (3.7) 88 (0.8) 512 (3.3) 12 (0.8) 477 (4.9)
Slovenia 86 (0.9) 498 (2.1) 14 (0.9) 469 (4.5) 97 (0.4) 494 (2.1) 3 (0.4) 455 (11.5)
South Africa 37 (1.3) 289 (10.6) 63 (1.3) 251 (4.3) 58 (1.5) 281 (8.5) 42 (1.5) 245 (3.6)
Sweden 98 (0.3) 500 (2.6) 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 98 (0.3) 500 (2.6) 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Tunisia 22 (1.4) 432 (4.5) 78 (1.4) 404 (2.0) 73 (1.2) 415 (2.4) 27 (1.2) 398 (2.5)
United States 93 (0.4) 509 (3.3) 7 (0.4) 453 (4.9) 86 (0.5) 510 (3.3) 14 (0.5) 475 (4.0)
England 94 (0.5) 503 (5.1) 6 (0.5) 460 (8.1) 87 (1.0) 505 (4.9) 13 (1.0) 472 (6.4)
International Avg. 60 (0.2) 479 (0.7) 40 (0.2) 440 (0.9) 83 (0.1) 473 (0.6) 17 (0.1) 438 (1.0)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 89 (0.7) 490 (2.9) 11 (0.7) 464 (4.8) 93 (0.6) 489 (2.8) 7 (0.6) 462 (6.9)
Indiana State, US 92 (0.9) 511 (5.3) 8 (0.9) 479 (8.0) 84 (0.9) 512 (5.3) 16 (0.9) 490 (7.1)
Ontario Province, Can. 97 (0.4) 522 (3.0) 3 (0.4) 479 (9.1) 91 (0.7) 523 (3.0) 9 (0.7) 497 (5.4)
Quebec Province, Can. 93 (0.5) 545 (3.2) 7 (0.5) 520 (3.2) 91 (0.6) 545 (3.2) 9 (0.6) 528 (3.9)

140 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.5: Computer and Study Desk/Table in the Home MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 141
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.6: Use of Computer MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Use Computer Both at Home Use Computer at Home Use Computer at School
and at School but Not at School but Not at Home
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Hong Kong, SAR 89 (0.7) 591 (2.9) 9 (0.6) 554 (8.1) 2 (0.2) ~ ~
Chinese Taipei 88 (0.9) 595 (4.4) 2 (0.2) ~ ~ 9 (0.8) 509 (6.4)
Australia 83 (0.9) 512 (4.6) 10 (0.9) 498 (7.3) 5 (0.4) 447 (9.1)
Singapore 79 (0.7) 615 (3.4) 14 (0.5) 589 (4.5) 5 (0.4) 537 (7.9)
United States 79 (1.0) 515 (3.1) 11 (0.9) 481 (6.7) 8 (0.4) 452 (4.6)
Netherlands 78 (1.5) 542 (3.7) 19 (1.4) 526 (6.9) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Sweden 78 (1.3) 505 (2.7) 17 (1.3) 488 (4.6) 3 (0.3) 463 (6.4)
Scotland 77 (1.1) 506 (3.8) 12 (0.9) 482 (5.8) 9 (0.6) 463 (5.5)
Israel 72 (1.8) 506 (3.6) 19 (1.6) 492 (5.1) 6 (0.5) 446 (8.9)
New Zealand 71 (1.4) 505 (5.9) 16 (1.3) 490 (5.4) 10 (0.7) 463 (7.9)
Norway 71 (1.5) 468 (2.6) 22 (1.4) 457 (4.4) 5 (0.5) 438 (6.4)
Cyprus 70 (0.7) 476 (1.5) 7 (0.5) 453 (5.3) 16 (0.6) 417 (4.3)
Belgium (Flemish) 64 (1.9) 544 (2.9) 26 (1.8) 536 (5.6) 4 (0.5) 478 (10.9)
Hungary 61 (1.4) 548 (3.0) 8 (1.0) 539 (8.6) 26 (1.1) 493 (5.2)
Japan 55 (1.3) 582 (3.1) 16 (1.1) 580 (6.7) 26 (0.8) 545 (2.8)
Slovenia 51 (1.5) 504 (3.0) 34 (1.7) 491 (2.9) 8 (0.8) 476 (4.6)
Estonia 41 (1.5) 539 (3.4) 24 (1.3) 544 (4.5) 24 (1.1) 516 (3.5)
Lebanon 39 (1.4) 459 (3.9) 16 (1.4) 416 (5.0) 21 (2.0) 426 (5.7)
Italy 39 (1.9) 498 (3.7) 39 (1.9) 491 (3.9) 9 (0.7) 445 (5.8)
Jordan 35 (1.5) 449 (6.3) 10 (0.8) 429 (7.7) 43 (1.5) 413 (3.7)
Korea, Rep. of 35 (1.6) 603 (2.7) 61 (1.7) 587 (2.7) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Bahrain 31 (1.4) 418 (3.1) 45 (1.4) 403 (2.3) 8 (0.4) 383 (6.0)
Slovak Republic 26 (1.8) 537 (5.3) 33 (2.0) 519 (4.0) 16 (1.5) 486 (5.8)
Lithuania 26 (1.5) 523 (3.4) 22 (1.4) 524 (3.9) 35 (1.6) 482 (3.2)
Malaysia 26 (1.7) 538 (5.3) 26 (1.8) 527 (6.5) 24 (1.7) 491 (5.5)
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 26 (1.5) 398 (5.3) 18 (1.3) 410 (5.4) 33 (1.6) 378 (3.9)
Latvia 25 (1.3) 536 (4.0) 16 (1.0) 516 (4.5) 42 (1.8) 503 (3.8)
Chile 22 (1.2) 445 (4.0) 11 (0.8) 416 (5.9) 49 (1.8) 364 (3.7)
Egypt 18 (0.7) 419 (5.5) 5 (0.5) 393 (8.9) 62 (1.4) 403 (3.5)
South Africa 16 (1.2) 286 (18.6) 11 (1.1) 309 (15.2) 18 (1.3) 250 (4.8)
Serbia 15 (1.3) 518 (5.1) 22 (1.6) 504 (4.3) 23 (2.0) 471 (4.0)
Moldova, Rep. of 15 (1.2) 459 (8.6) 4 (0.4) 454 (9.2) 63 (2.1) 461 (4.7)
Morocco 15 (1.1) 375 (5.2) 17 (1.1) 386 (4.9) 21 (1.7) 388 (5.1)
Romania 15 (1.7) 515 (6.9) 16 (1.2) 504 (6.4) 25 (2.1) 474 (7.3)
Macedonia, Rep. of 14 (1.2) 461 (6.7) 22 (1.5) 462 (6.3) 21 (2.0) 433 (4.7)
Russian Federation 12 (1.1) 542 (6.3) 19 (2.3) 528 (4.9) 28 (1.8) 505 (3.9)
Saudi Arabia 12 (1.5) 360 (11.9) 46 (2.0) 339 (4.6) 5 (0.8) 332 (6.4)
Philippines 11 (0.9) 411 (12.4) 7 (0.5) 377 (8.9) 24 (1.7) 396 (7.2)
Ghana 9 (0.7) 256 (7.6) 9 (0.7) 258 (10.3) 21 (1.6) 264 (8.0)
Armenia 7 (0.7) 482 (8.3) 14 (0.8) 478 (4.3) 15 (2.0) 488 (6.2)
Indonesia 7 (1.4) 476 (13.6) 2 (0.4) ~ ~ 31 (3.2) 432 (6.6)
Tunisia 5 (0.5) 422 (5.6) 20 (1.4) 430 (5.1) 16 (1.5) 408 (3.3)
Bulgaria 5 (0.8) 505 (15.4) 22 (1.4) 502 (5.9) 8 (1.1) 459 (8.8)
Botswana r 5 (0.7) 394 (15.8) 6 (0.5) 381 (9.3) 23 (2.5) 365 (3.8)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 2 (0.6) ~ ~ 17 (1.2) 443 (4.5) 1 (0.3) ~ ~
England 81 (0.8) 508 (5.3) 10 (0.7) 480 (7.0) 7 (0.7) 459 (8.9)
International Avg. 39 (0.2) 485 (1.1) 18 (0.2) 470 (0.9) 19 (0.2) 441 (1.0)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 70 (2.1) 494 (2.9) 16 (1.9) 484 (5.5) 11 (0.8) 467 (4.5)
Indiana State, US 81 (1.3) 516 (5.5) 8 (0.9) 482 (7.0) 8 (0.9) 477 (5.8)
Ontario Province, Can. 85 (1.0) 525 (3.0) 11 (1.0) 510 (6.4) 3 (0.5) 473 (9.1)
Quebec Province, Can. 70 (1.9) 552 (3.7) 21 (1.8) 528 (3.8) 6 (0.6) 520 (4.3)

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9). An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

142 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.6: Use of Computer MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Use Computer Only at Places
Other than Home Do Not Use Computers at All
and School
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement
Hong Kong, SAR 0 (0.1) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Chinese Taipei 0 (0.1) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Australia 1 (0.1) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Singapore 1 (0.1) ~ ~ 1 (0.1) ~ ~
United States 1 (0.1) ~ ~ 1 (0.1) ~ ~
Netherlands 0 (0.1) ~ ~ 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Sweden 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Scotland 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Israel 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 1 (0.1) ~ ~
New Zealand 2 (0.3) ~ ~ 2 (0.3) ~ ~
Norway 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 2 (0.2) ~ ~
Cyprus 2 (0.2) ~ ~ 5 (0.4) 420 (5.3)
Belgium (Flemish) 5 (0.3) 527 (7.8) 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Hungary 2 (0.4) ~ ~ 3 (0.4) 503 (9.2)
Japan 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 2 (0.2) ~ ~
Slovenia 3 (0.4) 450 (6.8) 4 (0.4) 454 (7.7)
Estonia 6 (0.5) 515 (5.9) 4 (0.5) 501 (10.0)
Lebanon 14 (1.2) 408 (4.9) 10 (1.2) 417 (4.9)
Italy 5 (0.4) 448 (7.3) 9 (0.5) 456 (5.4)
Jordan 7 (0.8) 393 (6.9) 4 (0.5) 412 (7.7)
Korea, Rep. of 2 (0.2) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Bahrain 10 (0.6) 377 (4.7) 6 (0.4) 379 (6.5)
Slovak Republic 13 (0.8) 480 (3.6) 12 (1.1) 476 (4.8)
Lithuania 13 (1.0) 482 (4.2) 4 (0.6) 472 (10.3)
Malaysia 14 (1.0) 478 (5.1) 11 (1.1) 479 (5.1)
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 13 (1.1) 379 (4.8) 10 (0.9) 397 (5.4)
Latvia 12 (0.9) 492 (5.7) 5 (0.7) 461 (8.0)
Chile 10 (0.7) 370 (4.5) 8 (0.6) 350 (4.9)
Egypt 8 (0.6) 393 (6.5) 7 (0.7) 437 (6.8)
South Africa 27 (1.3) 247 (5.5) 28 (2.0) 258 (5.4)
Serbia 19 (1.2) 451 (4.3) 20 (1.1) 453 (3.5)
Moldova, Rep. of 8 (0.8) 459 (7.7) 9 (1.4) 469 (7.3)
Morocco 28 (1.2) 393 (3.5) 20 (1.5) 393 (4.2)
Romania 24 (1.4) 460 (4.8) 20 (1.8) 453 (5.9)
Macedonia, Rep. of 32 (1.8) 429 (4.4) 10 (1.0) 405 (6.6)
Russian Federation 21 (1.1) 505 (5.7) 21 (1.7) 482 (5.7)
Saudi Arabia 12 (0.7) 311 (4.8) 25 (1.9) 321 (6.5)
Philippines 14 (0.9) 391 (7.5) 44 (1.6) 357 (5.1)
Ghana 26 (1.5) 285 (7.2) 34 (2.5) 291 (6.2)
Armenia 18 (1.1) 484 (5.0) 45 (2.1) 475 (3.0)
Indonesia 19 (1.3) 372 (7.4) 40 (2.8) 407 (6.9)
Tunisia 23 (1.1) 413 (2.6) 36 (1.7) 399 (2.3)
Bulgaria 40 (1.8) 465 (4.7) 24 (1.6) 473 (6.4)
Botswana r 5 (0.4) 376 (7.3) 61 (2.5) 374 (2.9)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 12 (0.8) 415 (4.5) 68 (1.7) 403 (2.5)
England 1 (0.2) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
International Avg. 10 (0.1) 422 (1.2) 14 (0.2) 420 (1.3)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 2 (0.5) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~
Indiana State, US 1 (0.3) ~ ~ 1 (0.3) ~ ~
Ontario Province, Can. 0 (0.1) ~ ~ 0 (0.1) ~ ~
Quebec Province, Can. 2 (0.2) ~ ~ 1 (0.2) ~ ~

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9). An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 143
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.6: Use of Computer MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number, An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
some totals may appear inconsistent.

144 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.6: Use of Computer MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 145
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

but not at school, 19 percent using one at school but not at home, and
10 percent at some other place. Fourteen percent of eighth-grade stu-
dents reported that they do not use a computer at all. At fourth grade,
the results were similar to the eighth grade. Forty-three percent of the
fourth-grade students reported using a computer both at home and
at school, 20 percent at home but not at school, 11 percent at school
but not at home, and 9 percent some other place. Eighteen percent
reported that they did not use a computer at all.
Interestingly, at both grades, the data indicate that students were
somewhat more likely to use a computer at home than at school. Also,
it should be highlighted that at both grades percentages of students
reporting that they did not use a computer at all varied dramatically
across countries. For example at the eighth grade, it varied from 0
percent in several countries (Hong Kong SAR and Chinese Taipei)
to about one-third (34 to 45%) in the Philippines, Ghana, Armenia,
Indonesia, and Tunisia to about two-thirds (61-68%) in Botswana and
Iran.
Mathematics achievement was positively related to computer
usage, particularly at eighth grade, with average achievement highest
among students reporting using computers at home and at school
(485 points). Next highest was achievement among students using
computers at home but not school (470 points), followed by students
using computers at school but not home (441 points). Countries with
the greatest percentages of eighth-grade students using computers at
home and at school included Hong Kong SAR, Chinese Taipei, Aus-
tralia, England, and Indiana (80% or more), as well as Singapore, the
United States, the Netherlands, Sweden, Scotland, Israel, New Zealand,
Norway, and Cyprus (70% or more). At the fourth grade, countries
with the greatest percentages (80% or more) of students using com-
puters at home and at school included Chinese Taipei and Australia,
as well as England, the Netherlands, Scotland, Hong Kong SAR, the
United States, Singapore, and New Zealand.

146 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

How Much of Their Out-of-School Time Do Students Spend on

Homework During the School Week?

One of the major ways that students can consolidate and extend class-
room learning is to spend time out of school studying or doing home-
work in school subjects. Well-chosen homework assignments can
reinforce classroom learning, and, by providing a challenge, can encour-
age students to extend their understanding of the subject matter. Home-
work also provides students who are having trouble keeping up with
their classmates an opportunity to review material taught in class.
To summarize the amount of time typically devoted to math-
ematics homework in each country, TIMSS constructed an index of
the time students spend doing mathematics homework that assigns
students to a high, medium, or low level on the basis of the frequency
and amount of mathematics homework they are assigned each week.
Students at the high level reported that they were assigned more than
30 minutes of mathematics homework at least 3-4 times per week.
Students at the low level were reportedly assigned not more than 30
minutes of mathematics homework twice per week. The middle level
included all other response combinations.
Exhibit 4.7 presents the percentages of eighth- and fourth-grade
students at the various levels of this index across countries, and their
average mathematics achievement. Countries are ordered by the per-
centage of students at the high level of the index. At the eighth grade
across countries, on average, 26 percent of students were at the high
level of the time spent on mathematics homework index, 54 percent at the
medium level, and 19 percent at the low level. Students at the low
level, on average, had lower achievement than the students in the
high and medium categories. Countries with the greatest emphasis on
homework the eighth grade included Romania, Italy, and the Russian
Federation, where 50 percent or more of the students were at the high
level of the index. In these countries, homework seems to be an impor-
tant part of teachers' instructional strategy. In contrast, there seems to
be relatively little emphasis on homework in Scotland, Japan, Sweden,

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 147
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.7: Index of Time Students Spend Doing Mathematics Homework (TMH) in a Normal
School Week
MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
High Medium Low
Index of Time TMH TMH TMH
Students Spend Doing Countries
Mathematics Homework Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Romania 68 (1.6) 492 (4.5) 28 (1.4) 451 (6.4) 3 (0.4) 437 (13.0)
Index based on students Italy 54 (1.4) 484 (3.8) 40 (1.1) 487 (3.6) 7 (0.7) 471 (8.0)
reports on the frequency and Russian Federation 53 (1.2) 509 (4.4) 45 (1.2) 511 (3.4) 2 (0.2) ~~
amount of mathematics
homework they are given. Lebanon 42 (1.7) 436 (3.5) 52 (1.7) 437 (3.5) 5 (0.6) 412 (7.6)
High level indicates more Tunisia 39 (1.1) 410 (2.7) 50 (1.1) 414 (2.2) 11 (0.9) 414 (4.3)
than 30 minutes of Moldova, Rep. of 38 (1.4) 472 (4.3) 57 (1.3) 458 (4.6) 5 (0.5) 437 (8.3)
mathematics homework Singapore 38 (1.1) 621 (3.1) 51 (0.9) 604 (3.8) 11 (0.8) 566 (7.8)
assigned 3-4 times a week.
Low level indicates no more Indonesia 37 (1.1) 435 (4.3) 48 (0.8) 406 (5.3) 15 (0.8) 391 (7.3)
than 30 minutes of mathematics Armenia 35 (1.3) 490 (3.9) 60 (1.2) 478 (3.7) 4 (0.4) 475 (7.5)
homework no more than twice a Morocco r 34 (1.5) 390 (4.5) 52 (1.1) 392 (3.2) 14 (1.0) 380 (4.8)
week. Medium level includes Israel 33 (1.4) 498 (3.9) 55 (1.3) 505 (4.1) 12 (0.9) 479 (6.3)
all other possible combinations
of responses. Malaysia 33 (1.3) 515 (4.4) 56 (1.1) 510 (4.5) 11 (0.8) 485 (5.9)
Latvia 33 (1.3) 502 (4.7) 61 (1.3) 516 (3.0) 6 (0.7) 508 (9.3)
Bulgaria 33 (1.8) 482 (6.4) 54 (1.5) 478 (4.6) 14 (1.5) 469 (5.4)
Hong Kong, SAR 32 (1.9) 600 (3.5) 49 (1.5) 587 (3.6) 19 (1.5) 566 (7.6)
Lithuania 32 (1.4) 493 (3.1) 63 (1.3) 509 (3.0) 5 (0.8) 490 (8.7)
United States 31 (1.0) 518 (4.1) 60 (0.9) 506 (3.2) 9 (0.9) 461 (6.3)
Estonia 28 (1.3) 519 (4.0) 66 (1.3) 538 (3.2) 7 (1.2) 523 (10.3)
Palestinian Natl Auth. 27 (1.1) 393 (3.5) 65 (1.1) 398 (3.5) 8 (0.6) 371 (6.6)
Egypt 26 (0.8) 402 (4.3) 60 (1.0) 418 (3.6) 14 (0.7) 419 (4.7)
Macedonia, Rep. of 26 (1.1) 440 (4.5) 61 (1.3) 444 (3.9) 13 (1.3) 439 (6.0)
Norway 26 (1.3) 454 (4.0) 52 (1.3) 466 (2.5) 22 (1.3) 472 (3.5)
Slovenia 25 (1.1) 482 (2.9) 71 (1.2) 500 (2.5) 4 (0.8) 463 (8.8)
Botswana 25 (0.8) 385 (3.9) 53 (0.8) 368 (2.6) 22 (0.9) 355 (3.0)
Serbia 25 (1.3) 466 (4.1) 54 (1.2) 481 (3.5) 20 (1.7) 497 (3.5)
Jordan 25 (0.8) 425 (4.7) 64 (1.1) 437 (4.1) 11 (0.9) 411 (4.9)
Ghana 24 (0.9) 288 (5.8) 56 (0.9) 280 (4.5) 20 (1.0) 275 (7.5)
Philippines 24 (0.9) 390 (5.4) 54 (1.0) 382 (5.5) 22 (1.2) 361 (6.6)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 24 (1.2) 420 (3.8) 52 (0.9) 414 (2.8) 25 (1.1) 403 (3.4)
South Africa 21 (0.8) 275 (8.1) 58 (0.8) 270 (6.3) 20 (1.0) 260 (5.4)
Cyprus 21 (0.8) 459 (2.8) 70 (0.7) 469 (1.8) 9 (0.6) 438 (5.3)
Hungary 20 (1.2) 516 (5.8) 77 (1.2) 537 (3.1) 3 (0.5) 501 (14.1)
Australia 19 (1.6) 520 (6.0) 50 (1.5) 509 (5.4) 31 (2.0) 497 (5.5)
Netherlands 19 (1.3) 540 (5.2) 62 (1.4) 542 (4.4) 19 (1.7) 518 (6.5)
Chinese Taipei 18 (1.5) 611 (6.0) 45 (1.2) 594 (4.4) 37 (2.0) 563 (5.6)
Bahrain 18 (0.8) 387 (3.3) 69 (1.2) 409 (2.0) 13 (1.1) 398 (4.9)
Saudi Arabia 15 (1.0) 315 (8.1) 62 (1.6) 335 (4.6) 23 (1.6) 345 (5.7)
New Zealand 14 (1.1) 488 (5.1) 49 (1.8) 505 (6.0) 37 (2.1) 492 (7.2)
Belgium (Flemish) 13 (1.1) 542 (4.5) 42 (1.4) 546 (3.2) 44 (2.0) 532 (3.7)
Korea, Rep. of 11 (1.0) 582 (4.3) 46 (1.6) 592 (2.6) 43 (2.0) 590 (2.8)
Slovak Republic 11 (0.9) 495 (6.4) 81 (1.4) 511 (3.4) 8 (1.3) 500 (7.7)
Chile 10 (0.7) 387 (6.9) 43 (1.0) 389 (3.8) 47 (1.4) 388 (3.7)
Scotland 8 (0.8) 493 (5.8) 46 (2.1) 507 (4.5) 46 (2.5) 496 (4.1)
Japan 6 (0.7) 565 (10.1) 36 (1.5) 566 (2.8) 58 (1.9) 576 (2.1)
Sweden 4 (0.5) 453 (7.0) 38 (1.4) 494 (3.5) 58 (1.5) 509 (2.7)
England 7 (1.2) 509 (7.0) 37 (1.5) 507 (5.3) 56 (1.9) 498 (5.8)
International Avg. 26 (0.2) 468 (0.8) 54 (0.2) 471 (0.6) 19 (0.2) 456 (1.0)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 31 (1.9) 481 (3.2) 60 (1.8) 493 (3.1) 9 (1.2) 483 (6.9)
Indiana State, US 31 (2.7) 514 (7.5) 65 (2.5) 510 (4.7) 5 (0.7) 458 (9.3)
Ontario Province, Can. 24 (1.2) 515 (5.1) 71 (1.4) 526 (3.0) 6 (0.9) 496 (8.1)
Quebec Province, Can. 29 (1.7) 548 (4.3) 53 (1.6) 545 (3.5) 19 (2.0) 536 (4.5)

Background data provided by students. A tilde (~) indicates insufcient data to report achievement.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9). An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

148 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.7: Index of Time Students Spend Doing Mathematics Homework (TMH) in a Normal
School Week
MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
High Medium Low
TMH TMH TMH
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Singapore 40 (1.5) 604 (6.0) 49 (1.3) 595 (5.8) 11 (0.6) 575 (7.2)
Russian Federation 38 (1.3) 531 (5.3) 59 (1.2) 537 (4.7) 2 (0.4) ~~
Armenia r 33 (1.3) 467 (5.1) 65 (1.3) 465 (3.5) 2 (0.3) ~~
Moldova, Rep. of 31 (2.0) 518 (6.3) 66 (1.9) 504 (5.4) 3 (0.6) 494 (10.9)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 31 (2.3) 404 (5.1) 52 (1.8) 391 (5.0) 17 (2.3) 376 (8.1)
Lithuania 29 (1.2) 527 (3.8) 66 (1.3) 545 (3.1) 5 (0.6) 510 (10.7)
Latvia 25 (1.1) 525 (4.1) 71 (1.1) 546 (2.7) 4 (0.6) 517 (9.1)
Hong Kong, SAR 24 (1.0) 575 (3.8) 71 (0.9) 580 (3.2) 5 (0.5) 530 (5.6)
Italy 24 (1.1) 496 (5.2) 52 (1.1) 504 (4.5) 24 (1.6) 512 (3.6)
Morocco s 22 (1.3) 362 (5.9) 58 (1.9) 365 (4.8) 20 (2.1) 353 (12.3)
Tunisia s 22 (2.2) 373 (8.6) 50 (2.8) 365 (6.3) 28 (3.0) 365 (8.0)
Hungary 17 (0.9) 515 (4.9) 78 (1.1) 538 (3.1) 5 (0.9) 535 (10.6)
Philippines 17 (0.8) 349 (7.0) 52 (1.7) 362 (6.7) 31 (1.9) 372 (15.7)
Cyprus 14 (0.6) 494 (4.6) 76 (0.9) 521 (2.4) 10 (0.6) 497 (5.3)
Slovenia 14 (0.9) 466 (6.7) 76 (1.2) 490 (2.6) 10 (0.9) 455 (8.6)
United States 12 (0.6) 504 (4.0) 63 (1.3) 524 (2.7) 25 (1.5) 520 (3.5)
Norway 12 (1.0) 447 (4.7) 56 (1.8) 462 (3.2) 32 (2.1) 467 (4.0)
Chinese Taipei 11 (0.6) 546 (3.5) 62 (1.1) 569 (2.0) 27 (1.2) 561 (2.7)
Belgium (Flemish) 9 (0.7) 538 (3.9) 48 (1.7) 549 (2.7) 43 (2.0) 557 (2.0)
Japan 8 (0.6) 543 (4.6) 57 (1.8) 568 (2.3) 35 (2.1) 565 (2.7)
New Zealand 7 (0.4) 489 (6.7) 41 (1.1) 491 (3.3) 52 (1.3) 504 (3.1)
Australia 7 (0.8) 486 (13.0) 43 (2.1) 500 (4.6) 50 (2.1) 505 (4.4)
Scotland 6 (0.8) 477 (6.8) 40 (2.0) 488 (4.2) 54 (2.2) 498 (3.4)
England 4 (0.6) 489 (14.3) 37 (1.8) 531 (4.8) 59 (1.9) 540 (4.2)
Netherlands 1 (0.2) ~~ 10 (0.8) 508 (6.6) 89 (0.9) 546 (1.8)
International Avg. 18 (0.2) 489 (1.3) 56 (0.3) 500 (0.9) 26 (0.3) 494 (1.6)
Benchmarking Participants
Indiana State, US 15 (1.6) 531 (5.6) 65 (2.6) 537 (2.7) 21 (3.0) 525 (5.9)
Ontario Province, Can. 16 (0.9) 514 (6.3) 53 (1.7) 511 (3.4) 31 (2.0) 513 (6.4)
Quebec Province, Can. 10 (0.9) 487 (3.8) 44 (1.5) 505 (2.9) 46 (1.7) 514 (3.0)

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 149
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.8 How Students Spend Their Leisure Time on a Normal School Day MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003

Background data provided by students. () Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
* Number of hours based on: No time = 0; Less than 1 hour = 0.5; 1-2 hours = 1.5; More than 2 but some totals may appear inconsistent.
less than 4 hours = 3; 4 or more hours = 4.5. Activities are not necessarily exclusive; students may An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
have reported engaging in more than one activity at the same time.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9).

150 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.8: How Students Spend Their Leisure Time on a Normal School Day MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Average Hours Spent Each Day*

Countries Watch Play Read

Play or Talk with Do Jobs Play
Television Computer a Book for Use the Internet
Friends at Home Sports
and Videos Games Enjoyment

Armenia r 1.6 (0.04) r 1.0 (0.04) r 1.3 (0.03) s 0.5 (0.05) r 1.4 (0.03) r 1.9 (0.04) s 0.5 (0.04)
Australia 1.9 (0.04) 1.1 (0.03) 1.8 (0.04) 1.3 (0.03) 1.8 (0.04) 1.2 (0.03) 0.9 (0.04)
Belgium (Flemish) 1.8 (0.03) 1.0 (0.02) 2.0 (0.03) 1.2 (0.02) 1.6 (0.03) 0.9 (0.02) 0.8 (0.02)
Chinese Taipei 1.3 (0.03) 1.0 (0.03) 1.0 (0.02) 0.9 (0.02) 1.3 (0.02) 1.1 (0.02) 1.0 (0.03)
Cyprus 1.9 (0.03) 1.1 (0.03) 2.1 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.7 (0.03) 1.2 (0.02) 0.6 (0.02)
England 2.0 (0.04) 1.5 (0.04) 2.1 (0.04) 1.0 (0.03) 1.9 (0.03) 1.0 (0.03) 1.0 (0.03)
Hong Kong, SAR 1.9 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) 0.9 (0.02) 1.1 (0.02) 1.0 (0.02) 0.9 (0.03)
Hungary 1.9 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) 2.2 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.7 (0.03) 1.0 (0.02) 0.4 (0.02)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 1.1 (0.04) 0.3 (0.03) 1.2 (0.05) 1.6 (0.05) 1.4 (0.04) 1.3 (0.04) 0.2 (0.02)
Italy 1.4 (0.03) 0.8 (0.02) 1.9 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.6 (0.02) 0.9 (0.02) 0.4 (0.02)
Japan 2.0 (0.03) 0.9 (0.02) 1.9 (0.03) 0.8 (0.02) 1.3 (0.02) 0.8 (0.02) 0.4 (0.01)
Latvia 2.0 (0.04) 0.9 (0.03) 2.6 (0.04) 1.7 (0.04) 1.5 (0.03) 1.1 (0.03) 0.5 (0.03)
Lithuania 1.7 (0.04) 1.1 (0.03) 2.7 (0.03) 1.8 (0.04) 1.2 (0.03) 1.1 (0.02) 0.5 (0.02)
Moldova, Rep. of 1.6 (0.04) r 0.6 (0.03) 1.8 (0.05) 1.9 (0.05) 1.2 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) r 0.4 (0.03)
Morocco r 1.0 (0.05) r 0.8 (0.05) r 1.2 (0.05) r 1.3 (0.04) r 1.2 (0.04) r 1.1 (0.05) r 0.8 (0.04)
Netherlands 1.6 (0.04) 1.2 (0.03) 2.4 (0.05) 0.9 (0.03) 1.7 (0.04) 0.8 (0.03) 0.8 (0.04)
New Zealand 1.9 (0.03) 1.1 (0.03) 1.8 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.6 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.0 (0.02)
Norway 1.5 (0.02) 1.0 (0.02) 2.4 (0.04) 1.1 (0.02) 1.5 (0.03) 1.0 (0.03) 0.6 (0.02)
Philippines 1.2 (0.04) 0.8 (0.03) 1.3 (0.03) 1.5 (0.05) 1.4 (0.04) 1.4 (0.04) 0.7 (0.04)
Russian Federation 1.5 (0.03) 0.8 (0.03) 2.2 (0.04) 1.5 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) 1.2 (0.02) 0.3 (0.02)
Scotland 2.0 (0.04) 1.6 (0.04) 2.1 (0.04) 1.1 (0.03) 2.0 (0.04) 1.0 (0.02) 1.1 (0.03)
Singapore 2.0 (0.02) 1.2 (0.02) 1.2 (0.02) 1.0 (0.03) 1.5 (0.03) 1.3 (0.02) 0.9 (0.02)
Slovenia 1.6 (0.05) 1.3 (0.04) 1.7 (0.04) 1.5 (0.04) 1.9 (0.04) 1.2 (0.03) 0.6 (0.02)
Tunisia r 0.8 (0.03) r 0.8 (0.04) r 0.9 (0.04) r 1.5 (0.04) r 1.4 (0.04) r 1.3 (0.05) r 0.8 (0.05)
United States 2.1 (0.03) 1.1 (0.02) 2.0 (0.02) 1.2 (0.01) 1.9 (0.02) 1.2 (0.02) 1.2 (0.02)
International Avg. 1.7 (0.01) 1.0 (0.01) 1.8 (0.01) 1.3 (0.01) 1.5 (0.01) 1.1 (0.01) 0.7 (0.01)
Benchmarking Participants
Indiana State, US 2.0 (0.04) 1.1 (0.03) 2.2 (0.03) 1.1 (0.03) 2.0 (0.03) 1.1 (0.03) 1.2 (0.04)
Ontario Province, Can. 2.0 (0.04) 1.2 (0.04) 1.8 (0.05) 1.2 (0.02) 1.7 (0.04) 1.2 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03)
Quebec Province, Can. 1.8 (0.03) 1.2 (0.03) 2.0 (0.04) 1.4 (0.03) 2.2 (0.03) 1.0 (0.02) 1.2 (0.03)

Background data provided by students. () Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
* Number of hours based on: No time = 0; Less than 1 hour = 0.5; 1-2 hours = 1.5; More than 2 but some totals may appear inconsistent.
less than 4 hours = 3; 4 or more hours = 4.5. Activities are not necessarily exclusive; students may An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students. An s indicates data
have reported engaging in more than one activity at the same time. are available for at least 50 but less than 70% of the students.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 151
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

and England, where less than ten percent of students were at the high
level of the index.
In general, fourth-grade students reported being given less
mathematics homework than did students at the eighth grade. Eighteen
percent of fourth-grade students, on average, were at the high level
of the index, 56 percent at the middle level, and 26 percent at the low
level. Singapore was the country with the highest percentage of stu-
dents in the high category40 percent. Despite this, across countries,
fourth-grade students in the medium category had the highest average
mathematics achievement. This pattern suggests that, compared with
their higher-achieving counterparts, the lower-performing students
may be assigned more homework as a remedial strategy in an effort to
keep up academically.
To provide a fuller picture of how students spend their out-
of-school time on a school day, Exhibit 4.8 gives students' reports on
how they spend their daily leisure time. The two most popular activi-
ties were watching television or videos and playing or talking with
friends (each about two hours per day at eighth grade and a little less
at fourth grade). Students reported spending more than one hour per
day playing sports and working at jobs at home, and about one hour
playing computer games and using the Internet.

How Condent Are Students in Their Ability

to Learn Mathematics?

To investigate how students think of their abilities in mathematics,

TIMSS created an index of students' self-condence in learning math-
ematics. This index is based on students' responses to four statements
about their mathematics ability:

I usually do well in mathematics;

Mathematics is more difcult for me than for many of my classmates;*

* The response categories for this statement were reversed in constructing the index.

152 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

Mathematics is not one of my strengths;*

I learn things quickly in mathematics.

Students who agreed a little or agreed a lot with all four state-
ments, on average, were assigned to the high level of the index, while
students who disagreed a little or disagreed a lot with all four, on
average, were assigned to the low level. The medium level includes all
other possible combinations of responses. The percentages of students
at each level of this index, and their average mathematics achievement,
are presented in Exhibit 4.9 for both eighth and fourth grades.
On average, internationally, 40 percent of the eighth-grade stu-
dents had high self-condence in learning mathematics. The percent-
ages ranged from a high of 59 percent in Israel to a low of 17 percent
in Japan. Although there was a clear positive association between self-
condence in learning mathematics and mathematics achievement,
internationally and in every country, at the country level the relation-
ship was more complex. It is noteworthy that the four countries with
lowest percentages of students in the high self-condence category
Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, and Korea all had high
average mathematics achievement. Since all of these are Asian Pacic
countries, they may share cultural traditions that encourage modest
self-condence.
At fourth grade, on average, internationally, 55 percent of stu-
dents were at the high level of the self-condence in learning math-
ematics index, compared with 33 percent at the medium and just
11 percent at the low. The countries with the greatest percentages
included Slovenia, and Cyprus, each with 70 percent or more. Coun-
tries with relatively lower percentages included Japan and the Philip-
pines, each with less than 40 percent at the high level. Again, there was
a positive relationship, on average, between self-condence in learning
mathematics and mathematics achievement.

* The response categories for this statement were reversed in constructing the index.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 153
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.9: Index of Students Self-Condence in Learning Mathematics (SCM) MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Index of Students' High Medium Low
Self-Confidence in SCM SCM SCM
Countries
Learning Mathematics
(SCM) Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Israel 59 (1.2) 526 (3.5) 30 (0.9) 461 (3.8) 11 (0.7) 451 (5.7)
Index based on students Egypt 58 (1.0) 437 (3.3) 35 (0.9) 383 (3.7) 7 (0.4) 374 (5.3)
responses to four statements Scotland 52 (1.5) 524 (3.9) 32 (1.0) 477 (3.8) 15 (0.9) 456 (5.0)
about mathematics:1) I
usually do well in United States 51 (0.8) 534 (3.3) 29 (0.6) 483 (3.5) 20 (0.6) 461 (3.6)
mathematics; 2) Mathematics Australia 50 (1.7) 542 (4.5) 31 (1.1) 483 (3.7) 19 (1.2) 451 (6.4)
is more difficult for me than Jordan 49 (1.2) 463 (4.7) 38 (1.0) 400 (3.7) 13 (0.7) 390 (4.4)
for many of my classmates Sweden 49 (1.3) 534 (2.6) 36 (0.9) 477 (3.1) 16 (0.9) 446 (3.4)
(Reversed); 3) Mathematics is
not one of my strengths Norway 46 (1.1) 502 (2.0) 32 (0.8) 445 (2.9) 21 (0.8) 405 (3.4)
(Reversed); 4) I learn things Cyprus 46 (0.8) 503 (2.0) 32 (0.8) 437 (2.2) 22 (0.7) 407 (3.6)
quickly in mathematics. Italy 46 (0.9) 521 (3.3) 29 (0.9) 466 (3.6) 25 (1.0) 439 (3.4)
Belgium (Flemish) 45 (0.9) 556 (3.2) 30 (0.7) 526 (3.0) 25 (0.8) 518 (3.5)
Average is computed across
the four items based on a Netherlands 45 (1.4) 557 (4.4) 33 (1.0) 527 (4.7) 23 (1.0) 511 (4.8)
4-point scale: 1. Agree a lot; Serbia 44 (1.1) 530 (2.8) 26 (0.7) 458 (3.2) 30 (1.1) 422 (3.4)
2. Agree a little; 3. Disagree Bahrain 44 (0.9) 437 (2.0) 38 (0.9) 379 (2.4) 18 (0.6) 366 (3.2)
a little; 4. Disagree a lot. Tunisia 44 (1.0) 436 (2.7) 36 (0.8) 399 (2.5) 20 (0.9) 384 (2.2)

Students agreeing a little or a Hungary 44 (1.0) 574 (3.3) 32 (1.0) 507 (3.9) 24 (0.8) 479 (3.9)
lot on average across the Ghana 43 (1.4) 306 (5.6) 44 (1.2) 265 (4.8) 12 (0.7) 265 (7.5)
four statements are assigned Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 43 (1.0) 428 (3.9) 41 (0.9) 370 (2.9) 16 (0.6) 355 (3.6)
to the high level. Students Russian Federation 43 (1.1) 548 (3.0) 30 (0.8) 492 (4.1) 27 (0.8) 466 (4.6)
disagreeing a little or a lot on
average are assigned to the New Zealand 43 (1.4) 534 (6.4) 36 (1.1) 475 (5.4) 21 (0.9) 452 (4.1)
low level. All other students Lebanon 43 (1.4) 462 (3.6) 44 (1.1) 416 (3.1) 13 (0.7) 403 (4.4)
are assigned to the middle level. Saudi Arabia 41 (1.4) 361 (4.8) 43 (1.1) 321 (5.4) 16 (0.9) 303 (5.8)
Armenia 41 (1.1) 505 (4.0) 40 (1.0) 468 (3.7) 19 (0.9) 462 (4.1)
Estonia 41 (0.9) 569 (3.2) 32 (0.7) 520 (3.1) 28 (0.8) 489 (3.5)
Slovak Republic 40 (1.1) 556 (3.7) 35 (1.0) 487 (3.9) 25 (1.0) 462 (4.1)
Slovenia 40 (0.9) 533 (3.2) 39 (1.0) 474 (2.5) 20 (0.9) 453 (2.8)
Morocco r 40 (1.3) 413 (4.1) 41 (1.4) 377 (2.6) 19 (1.2) 368 (4.5)
Singapore 39 (0.8) 639 (3.0) 34 (0.7) 594 (3.9) 27 (0.7) 571 (4.6)
Malaysia 39 (1.2) 546 (4.2) 45 (1.0) 490 (3.7) 16 (0.7) 471 (4.4)
Botswana 38 (0.9) 390 (2.8) 45 (0.8) 361 (2.5) 17 (0.8) 352 (3.4)
South Africa 37 (0.9) 300 (8.3) 48 (0.9) 242 (3.9) 15 (0.8) 255 (9.9)
Lithuania 36 (1.0) 552 (3.1) 37 (0.9) 486 (2.8) 26 (0.9) 456 (2.7)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 35 (0.9) 447 (3.5) 49 (0.8) 399 (2.6) 16 (0.7) 377 (3.4)
Chile 35 (0.9) 427 (3.9) 42 (0.7) 369 (3.4) 23 (0.7) 361 (3.9)
Latvia 34 (1.0) 555 (3.4) 33 (0.9) 499 (3.2) 33 (1.0) 473 (3.4)
Bulgaria 33 (1.3) 519 (5.5) 39 (1.4) 467 (4.2) 28 (1.2) 445 (4.8)
Macedonia, Rep. of 33 (1.0) 482 (4.0) 37 (1.0) 418 (4.7) 31 (1.0) 424 (3.9)
Korea, Rep. of 30 (0.7) 650 (2.8) 36 (0.6) 592 (2.5) 34 (0.8) 534 (2.3)
Moldova, Rep. of 30 (1.2) 494 (5.0) 50 (0.9) 451 (4.5) 20 (1.1) 441 (5.3)
Romania 30 (1.2) 533 (4.6) 45 (1.1) 465 (4.5) 25 (0.9) 442 (5.4)
Hong Kong, SAR 30 (0.9) 627 (2.9) 38 (0.7) 581 (4.1) 33 (0.9) 556 (4.0)
Philippines 29 (0.7) 405 (6.1) 59 (0.7) 369 (4.8) 12 (0.5) 366 (6.5)
Indonesia 27 (1.1) 420 (6.6) 59 (0.8) 408 (4.5) 15 (0.9) 416 (4.7)
Chinese Taipei 26 (1.0) 661 (4.1) 30 (0.7) 593 (5.1) 44 (1.1) 534 (4.0)
Japan 17 (0.6) 634 (3.1) 38 (0.7) 580 (2.7) 45 (0.8) 538 (2.3)
England 47 (1.5) 526 (5.8) 34 (1.2) 485 (4.7) 19 (1.1) 468 (5.5)
International Avg. 40 (0.2) 504 (0.6) 38 (0.1) 453 (0.6) 22 (0.1) 433 (0.7)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 46 (1.6) 518 (3.1) 29 (1.1) 471 (3.1) 24 (1.4) 449 (2.9)
Indiana State, US 50 (1.7) 536 (6.0) 28 (1.0) 493 (4.8) 22 (1.2) 470 (4.4)
Ontario Province, Can. 63 (1.2) 549 (3.0) 22 (0.9) 484 (3.2) 15 (0.8) 460 (3.6)
Quebec Province, Can. 59 (1.3) 566 (3.3) 24 (0.9) 521 (2.9) 16 (0.8) 498 (3.2)
Background data provided by students. An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9).
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

154 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.9: Index of Students Self-Condence in Learning Mathematics (SCM) MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
High Medium Low
SCM SCM SCM
Countries
Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Slovenia 77 (1.0) 499 (2.6) 18 (0.8) 424 (4.2) 5 (0.5) 409 (5.8)
Cyprus 71 (1.0) 531 (2.6) 24 (0.9) 466 (3.5) 5 (0.4) 443 (6.5)
Netherlands 67 (1.0) 556 (2.3) 22 (0.9) 516 (2.8) 11 (0.6) 498 (4.4)
Norway 65 (0.9) 472 (2.4) 28 (0.8) 426 (3.0) 8 (0.6) 399 (5.7)
United States 64 (0.7) 541 (2.3) 25 (0.5) 486 (2.8) 11 (0.4) 475 (2.7)
Hungary 64 (0.8) 556 (3.1) 26 (0.8) 487 (3.8) 9 (0.5) 473 (5.2)
Australia 64 (0.9) 522 (3.7) 25 (0.9) 471 (5.2) 11 (0.8) 436 (8.1)
Scotland 64 (0.8) 508 (3.5) 26 (0.9) 468 (3.7) 11 (0.6) 451 (5.8)
Belgium (Flemish) 62 (0.8) 569 (1.8) 26 (0.7) 526 (2.7) 13 (0.6) 510 (3.1)
Italy 62 (1.0) 523 (3.9) 29 (0.8) 479 (5.0) 9 (0.5) 458 (6.1)
Lithuania 61 (1.2) 559 (3.0) 31 (1.0) 505 (3.9) 8 (0.6) 489 (8.0)
England 59 (1.1) 556 (4.1) 30 (0.9) 505 (4.3) 11 (0.6) 480 (5.3)
Tunisia r 56 (1.8) 367 (4.9) 37 (1.6) 321 (5.5) 7 (0.7) 305 (9.4)
New Zealand 54 (1.1) 526 (2.5) 36 (1.0) 464 (2.9) 9 (0.5) 446 (4.3)
Morocco r 54 (1.8) 372 (5.0) 40 (1.5) 342 (6.4) 6 (0.6) 324 (10.6)
Russian Federation 53 (1.4) 558 (4.8) 32 (1.1) 513 (5.1) 15 (0.7) 500 (5.5)
Moldova, Rep. of 52 (1.5) 535 (5.9) 40 (1.4) 478 (4.5) 8 (0.7) 461 (8.6)
Latvia 50 (1.1) 566 (3.2) 34 (0.9) 513 (3.6) 16 (0.8) 492 (4.1)
Singapore 49 (1.6) 629 (5.0) 35 (1.1) 573 (5.3) 16 (0.9) 540 (6.2)
Armenia s 43 (1.1) 495 (4.5) 44 (1.1) 453 (4.6) 13 (0.8) 446 (5.7)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 42 (1.6) 418 (4.8) 51 (1.6) 374 (4.3) 7 (0.5) 349 (8.9)
Chinese Taipei 41 (0.9) 591 (2.2) 39 (0.9) 549 (2.2) 20 (0.6) 539 (2.1)
Hong Kong, SAR 40 (1.1) 601 (3.1) 42 (0.9) 562 (3.6) 19 (0.8) 548 (3.7)
Japan 39 (0.9) 600 (2.2) 40 (0.9) 550 (2.3) 21 (0.8) 532 (2.2)
Philippines 34 (1.2) 395 (11.7) 53 (1.2) 351 (6.8) 12 (0.7) 326 (7.4)
International Avg. 55 (0.2) 522 (0.9) 33 (0.2) 472 (0.9) 11 (0.1) 453 (1.2)
Benchmarking Participants
Indiana State, US 64 (1.5) 551 (3.1) 22 (0.9) 511 (3.5) 14 (1.0) 493 (6.2)
Ontario Province, Can. 67 (1.4) 531 (4.2) 23 (1.2) 480 (3.4) 10 (0.7) 463 (5.3)
Quebec Province, Can. 70 (1.1) 525 (2.2) 22 (0.9) 471 (3.2) 8 (0.5) 448 (5.0)

Background data provided by students. An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students. An s indicates data
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number, are available for at least 50 but less than 70% of the students.
some totals may appear inconsistent.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 155
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

What Value Do Students Place on Mathematics?

Students' motivation to learn mathematics can be affected by whether

they nd the subject enjoyable, place value on the subject, and think
it is important for success in school and for future career aspirations.
In addition, developing such positive attitudes towards mathematics
among students is an important goal of mathematics education in many
countries. To gain some understanding about the value eighth- and
fourth-grade students place on mathematics, TIMSS created an index
of students valuing mathematics. Students were asked to state their
agreement with the following seven statements about mathematics:

I would like to take more mathematics in school;

I enjoy learning mathematics;

I think learning mathematics will help me in my daily life;

I need mathematics to learn other school subjects;

I need to do well in mathematics to get into the university of my

choice;

I would like a job that involved using mathematics;

I need to do well in mathematics to get the job I want.

Students who agreed a little or agreed a lot on average with all

seven statements were assigned to the high level of the index, while
students who on average disagreed a little or disagreed a lot with all
seven were assigned to the low level. Students between these extremes
were placed in the medium category. The percentages of students at
each level of this index, and their average mathematics achievement,
are presented in Exhibit 4.10 for both eighth and fourth grades.
Across the participating countries, on average, students generally
placed a high value on mathematics, with 55 percent in the high cate-
gory, and a further 35 percent in the medium category. Only 10 percent
of students were in the low category. Countries with large percentages of

156 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

students at the high level included Morocco, Botswana, Ghana, Egypt,

and Jordan, with 80 percent or more in this category. Among countries
where students reported placing less value on mathematics were Korea,
Japan, and the Netherlands with less than 20 percent. Since these are
countries with high average mathematics achievement, it may be that
the students follow a demanding mathematics curriculum, one that
leads to high achievement but little enthusiasm for the subject matter.
Despite some high percentages for low performing countries and low
percentages for high performing countries, students in the high category
had higher average mathematics achievement than those in the medium
and low categories.
To provide more information on changes from 1995 and 1999
in an important component of the students valuing mathematics index,
Exhibit 4.11 displays the percentages of eighth-grade students in 2003,
1999, and 1995 that agree a lot, agree a little, or disagree that
they enjoy learning mathematics. Comparable data at fourth grade are
shown for 2003 and 1995 only.
At the eighth grade, on average, internationally, there was a
signicant increase from 1995 and 1999 in the average percentage of
students agreeing a lot that they enjoy learning mathematics, from
17 percent in 1995 to 25 percent in 1999 to 29 percent in 2003. Nev-
ertheless, the upward trend from 1995 to 1999 in the percentage of
students agreeing a lot that they enjoy learning mathematics appears
to have leveled somewhat off in 2003. Participants showing a signi-
cant increase in 2003 over either 1995 or 1999 included Australia,
Belgium (Flemish), Chile, Hungary, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Lithu-
ania, Macedonia, Moldova, New Zealand, the Russian Federation, Sin-
gapore, the Slovak Republic, Tunisia, the United States, Ontario, and
Quebec. At fourth grade, the average percentage of students agreeing
a lot that they enjoy learning mathematics increased from 46 percent
in 1995 to 50 percent in 2003. Countries showing a signicant increase
included Australia, Hungary, Iran, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Sin-
gapore, and the United States.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 157
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.10: Index of Students Valuing Mathematics (SVM) MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
High Medium Low
Index of Students' SVM SVM SVM
Valuing Mathematics Countries
(SVM) Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average
Students Achievement Students Achievement Students Achievement
Morocco 85 (1.0) 391 (2.6) 12 (0.8) 377 (5.2) 3 (0.4) 380 (9.8)
Index based on students Botswana 84 (0.7) 378 (2.7) 14 (0.7) 331 (2.8) 2 (0.2) ~~
responses to seven Ghana 82 (1.2) 293 (4.8) 16 (1.1) 227 (4.8) 1 (0.2) ~~
statements about
mathematics: 1) I would like Egypt 82 (0.7) 418 (3.3) 16 (0.7) 386 (4.7) 2 (0.3) ~~
to take more mathematics in Jordan 81 (0.9) 436 (3.8) 16 (0.8) 398 (8.0) 3 (0.3) 395 (8.1)
school; 2) I enjoy learning Tunisia 79 (0.9) 417 (2.2) 17 (0.7) 395 (3.2) 4 (0.4) 385 (3.8)
mathematics; 3) I think South Africa 79 (0.9) 271 (5.6) 17 (0.8) 243 (9.1) 4 (0.3) 241 (11.4)
learning mathematics will
help me in my daily life; 4) I Malaysia 78 (1.0) 515 (4.1) 21 (0.9) 486 (5.0) 1 (0.1) ~~
need mathematics to learn Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 77 (1.0) 403 (3.1) 19 (0.9) 355 (4.2) 4 (0.4) 344 (8.5)
other school subjects; 5) I Philippines 73 (1.1) 390 (5.1) 25 (1.0) 347 (6.1) 2 (0.2) ~~
need to do well in Indonesia 71 (1.1) 411 (5.1) 28 (1.1) 415 (4.4) 1 (0.1) ~~
mathematics to get into the
university of my choice; 6) I Lebanon 71 (1.2) 442 (3.2) 24 (1.1) 413 (5.0) 4 (0.4) 409 (7.4)
would like a job that Iran, Islamic Rep. of 70 (0.9) 415 (2.6) 24 (0.8) 407 (3.1) 6 (0.4) 393 (6.1)
involved using mathematics; Bahrain 70 (0.9) 407 (2.2) 25 (0.7) 393 (2.5) 6 (0.5) 381 (6.0)
7) I need to do well in Chile 66 (1.0) 388 (3.6) 29 (0.9) 385 (3.7) 5 (0.3) 389 (6.0)
mathematics to get the
job I want. Singapore 63 (0.8) 616 (3.4) 32 (0.6) 592 (4.0) 5 (0.3) 558 (7.9)
Saudi Arabia 63 (1.5) 339 (5.2) 26 (1.0) 330 (4.4) 11 (0.8) 323 (5.7)
Average is computed across Moldova, Rep. of 61 (1.4) 468 (4.4) 35 (1.2) 452 (4.7) 4 (0.5) 441 (11.5)
the seven items based on a 4- Armenia 59 (1.1) 488 (3.7) 30 (0.9) 473 (3.4) 11 (0.7) 469 (5.4)
point scale: 1. Agree a lot; 2.
Agree a little; 3. Disagree a United States 58 (0.8) 512 (3.6) 34 (0.7) 498 (3.4) 8 (0.4) 485 (4.6)
little; 4. Disagree a lot. Israel 56 (1.3) 499 (4.1) 35 (1.1) 500 (4.2) 9 (0.6) 487 (5.5)
New Zealand 56 (1.3) 499 (5.3) 36 (1.2) 493 (6.0) 8 (0.7) 480 (6.9)
Students agreeing a little or a Russian Federation 55 (1.1) 522 (4.3) 39 (1.0) 496 (3.3) 7 (0.5) 482 (4.6)
lot on average across the
seven statements are assigned Macedonia, Rep. of 55 (1.0) 437 (4.1) 31 (0.8) 443 (4.4) 14 (0.8) 443 (4.9)
to the high level. Students Scotland 54 (1.3) 503 (4.1) 37 (1.0) 497 (3.9) 9 (0.7) 479 (6.6)
disagreeing a little or a lot Cyprus 53 (0.8) 476 (2.2) 36 (0.9) 443 (2.6) 11 (0.5) 439 (4.4)
on average are assigned to Lithuania 53 (1.0) 515 (2.7) 40 (1.0) 489 (3.2) 7 (0.4) 473 (4.4)
the low level. All other
students are assigned to the Romania 53 (1.3) 493 (5.0) 35 (1.1) 469 (4.5) 12 (0.8) 451 (8.4)
middle level. Australia 51 (1.3) 517 (4.9) 37 (1.0) 499 (4.9) 12 (0.6) 481 (7.4)
Latvia 50 (1.2) 519 (3.9) 43 (1.0) 502 (3.3) 8 (0.6) 484 (6.6)
Bulgaria 48 (1.5) 488 (4.7) 39 (1.1) 472 (5.0) 14 (1.1) 461 (5.9)
Slovak Republic 47 (1.3) 519 (3.9) 44 (1.2) 500 (3.8) 9 (0.5) 498 (4.7)
Hungary 47 (1.0) 540 (3.8) 44 (0.9) 519 (3.7) 9 (0.6) 527 (5.3)
Norway 45 (1.2) 475 (3.0) 42 (1.0) 458 (2.2) 13 (0.8) 432 (4.4)
Serbia 43 (1.2) 488 (3.5) 39 (1.0) 473 (3.1) 18 (0.9) 471 (4.3)
Estonia 38 (1.2) 540 (3.6) 49 (1.1) 531 (3.5) 13 (0.7) 508 (4.0)
Hong Kong, SAR 35 (1.0) 607 (3.4) 55 (0.8) 581 (3.4) 10 (0.5) 544 (6.1)
Italy 32 (1.0) 505 (3.9) 52 (0.9) 480 (3.4) 16 (0.8) 454 (3.7)
Belgium (Flemish) 29 (1.0) 557 (3.7) 47 (0.8) 535 (2.7) 24 (0.9) 521 (3.7)
Sweden 29 (1.1) 514 (3.8) 60 (1.1) 496 (2.8) 11 (0.7) 479 (3.5)
Chinese Taipei 25 (1.0) 630 (5.3) 50 (0.8) 587 (4.7) 24 (1.0) 536 (5.0)
Slovenia 25 (1.1) 510 (3.7) 58 (1.0) 491 (2.6) 17 (1.0) 478 (3.5)
Korea, Rep. of 18 (0.7) 633 (3.4) 59 (0.7) 593 (2.5) 23 (0.8) 546 (2.9)
Japan 17 (0.6) 597 (3.1) 61 (0.8) 574 (2.2) 22 (0.8) 539 (3.3)
Netherlands 16 (1.0) 526 (7.9) 59 (1.3) 540 (4.1) 25 (1.2) 534 (4.3)
England 39 (1.5) 508 (6.2) 46 (1.3) 500 (4.8) 15 (0.8) 486 (6.7)
International Avg. 55 (0.2) 479 (0.6) 35 (0.1) 458 (0.6) 10 (0.1) 458 (1.0)
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 42 (1.7) 500 (3.3) 39 (1.2) 484 (3.3) 19 (1.0) 467 (3.5)
Indiana State, US 57 (1.6) 518 (6.3) 34 (1.3) 500 (4.3) 9 (0.9) 487 (5.7)
Ontario Province, Can. 69 (1.4) 532 (3.3) 25 (1.0) 501 (3.7) 6 (0.7) 481 (5.1)
Quebec Province, Can. 55 (1.1) 551 (3.6) 39 (0.9) 536 (2.9) 6 (0.4) 519 (5.1)

158 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.11: Trends in I Enjoy Learning Mathematics MATHEMATICS
Grade 8

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Agree A Lot Agree A Little Disagree

Countries 2003 1999 1995 2003 1999 1995 2003 1999 1995
Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of
Students Students Students Students Students Students Students Students Students

Armenia 45 (1.2) '' ' ' 28 (0.8) '' ' ' 28 (1.1) '' ' '
Australia 18 (1.2) 13 (0.7) h 39 (1.0) 52 (0.6) i 42 (1.4) 35 (0.9) h
Bahrain 40 (0.9) ' ' ' ' 33 (0.9) ' ' ' ' 26 (1.0) ' ' ' '
Belgium (Flemish) 20 (0.9) 14 (0.6) h 14 (1.0) h 37 (0.9) 37 (0.8) 41 (1.2) i 43 (1.3) 49 (1.0) i 45 (1.3)
Botswana 65 (1.0) ' ' ' ' 22 (0.8) ' ' ' ' 14 (0.7) ' ' ' '
Bulgaria 22 (1.1) 21 (1.4) 39 (1.1) 35 (1.2) h 38 (1.5) 44 (2.1) i
Chile 34 (1.1) 30 (1.1) h ' ' 37 (0.7) 45 (0.7) i ' ' 30 (1.2) 26 (1.0) h ' '
Chinese Taipei 13 (0.6) 16 (0.7) i ' ' 29 (1.0) 42 (0.7) i ' ' 58 (1.4) 42 (1.0) h ' '
Cyprus 36 (0.8) 38 (1.2) 38 (1.1) 34 (0.9) 46 (1.0) i 45 (0.8) i 30 (0.7) 17 (1.0) h 17 (0.9) h
Egypt 61 (1.0) ' ' ' ' 27 (0.8) ' ' ' ' 12 (0.6) ' ' ' '
Estonia 14 (0.7) ' ' ' ' 39 (0.8) ' ' ' ' 48 (1.0) ' ' ' '
Ghana 53 (1.2) ' ' ' ' 30 (0.8) ' ' ' ' 16 (0.9) ' ' ' '
Hong Kong, SAR 15 (0.7) 19 (0.7) i 15 (0.8) 45 (1.0) 50 (0.8) i 50 (1.1) i 41 (1.1) 31 (1.1) h 35 (1.3) h
Hungary 17 (0.9) 8 (0.5) h 8 (0.7) h 36 (0.9) 30 (1.1) h 31 (1.2) h 47 (1.2) 62 (1.2) i 61 (1.3) i
Indonesia 21 (0.9) 25 (1.4) i ' ' 62 (0.9) 67 (1.2) i ' ' 17 (0.9) 7 (0.6) h ' '
Iran, Islamic Rep. of 58 (1.0) 50 (0.9) h 39 (1.2) h 26 (0.8) 40 (0.9) i 43 (1.2) i 16 (0.7) 11 (0.6) h 18 (1.1)
Israel 27 (1.1) 31 (1.4) i 34 (0.8) 42 (0.9) i 39 (1.1) 28 (1.4) h
Italy 16 (0.8) 21 (0.9) i 43 (1.2) 45 (1.1 1 (1.2) 34 (1.3) h
Japan 9 (0.6) 6 (0.4) h 5 (0.3) h 30 (0.8) 33 (1.0) i 41 (1.3) i 61 (1.1) 61 (1.1) 54 (1.5) h
Jordan 50 (1.3) 46 (1.2) h '' 31 (1.0) 37 (0.8) i '' 19 (1.0) 18 (0.9) ''
Korea, Rep. of 9 (0.5) 5 (0.3) h 8 (0.6) 34 (0.8) 27 (0.7) h 33 (1.0) 57 (1.0) 68 (0.7) i 59 (1.1)
Latvia 14 (0.9) 33 (0.9) 53 (1.3)
Lebanon 50 (1.4) ' ' ' ' 28 (1.0) ' ' ' ' 23 (1.0) ' ' ' '
Lithuania 18 (0.9) 13 (0.9) h 12 (0.9) h 36 (0.9) 46 (1.3) i 33 (1.3) 46 (1.2) 40 (1.5) h 55 (1.3) i
Macedonia, Rep. of 36 (1.1) 29 (0.9) h ' ' 31 (0.9) 39 (0.9) i ' ' 33 (1.0) 33 (1.1) ' '
Malaysia 41 (1.1) 43 (1.0) ' ' 45 (0.9) 50 (0.9) i ' ' 14 (0.7) 6 (0.4) h ' '
Moldova, Rep. of 23 (1.0) 18 (1.0) h ' ' 51 (1.1) 49 (1.2) ' ' 26 (1.2) 33 (1.4) i ' '
Morocco 60 (1.5) ' ' 23 (1.0) ' ' 17 (0.9) ' '
Netherlands 6 (0.5) 14 (1.1) i 10 (1.1) i 26 (1.2) 44 (1.4) i 46 (1.9) i 69 (1.4) 43 (1.8) h 44 (2.4) h
New Zealand 23 (1.2) 20 (1.0) h 20 (1.0) h 38 (1.1) 53 (0.9) i 54 (0.9) i 39 (1.3) 27 (1.1) h 26 (1.0) h
Norway 22 (1.0) ' ' 20 (0.9) 40 (0.9) ' ' 55 (1.0) i 38 (1.3) ' ' 24 (1.1) h
Palestinian Nat'l Auth. 45 (1.2) ' ' ' ' 33 (0.9) ' ' ' ' 22 (1.0) ' ' ' '
Philippines 38 (0.9) 45 (1.0) i ' ' 44 (0.7) 46 (1.0) ' ' 18 (0.8) 9 (0.6) h ' '
Romania 21 (1.0) 19 (0.9) 25 (1.1) i 39 (1.0) 49 (1.1) i 48 (1.1) i 39 (1.2) 32 (1.4) h 27 (1.2) h
Russian Federation 17 (0.7) 16 (0.8) 14 (0.8) h 38 (1.0) 41 (1.2) i 40 (1.3) 45 (1.2) 43 (1.5) 46 (1.4)
Saudi Arabia 34 (1.5) ' ' ' ' 34 (1.0) ' ' ' ' 32 (1.4) ' ' ' '
Scotland 18 (0.8) ' ' 40 (1.2) ' ' 42 (1.5) ' '
Serbia 23 (1.1) ' ' ' ' 29 (0.8) ' ' ' ' 49 (1.2) ' ' ' '
Singapore 33 (0.7) 28 (0.9) h 25 (1.0) h 42 (0.7) 52 (0.9) i 53 (0.8) i 25 (0.8) 20 (1.0) h 22 (1.0) h
Slovak Republic 13 (0.9) 11 (0.8) 10 (0.6) h 40 (1.2) 48 (1.2) i 48 (1.2) i 47 (1.4) 41 (1.5) h 42 (1.3) h
Slovenia 7 (0.6) 10 (0.7) i 28 (1.1) 39 (1.4) i 65 (1.2) 51 (1.6) h
South Africa 56 (1.2) 54 (1.1) 24 (0.8) 34 (1.0) i 20 (1.0) 12 (0.6) h
Sweden 15 (0.9) ' ' 17 (1.1) 51 (1.1) ' ' 57 (1.2) i 34 (1.3) ' ' 26 (1.2) h
Tunisia 45 (1.1) 38 (1.0) h ' ' 31 (0.8) 44 (0.8) i ' ' 24 (1.0) 18 (0.8) h ' '
United States 22 (0.6) 22 (0.9) 20 (0.7) h 38 (0.7) 47 (0.6) i 50 (0.9) i 40 (0.8) 31 (1.1) h 30 (0.9) h
England 14 (1.1) 25 (1.1) i 22 (1.1) i 39 (1.2) 54 (1.2) i 59 (1.5) i 47 (1.5) 21 (1.0) h 20 (1.3) h
International Avg. 29 (0.1) 25 (0.2) h 17 (0.2) h 36 (0.1) 44 (0.2) i 46 (0.3) i 35 (0.2) 31 (0.2) h 37 (0.3) i
Benchmarking Participants
Basque Country, Spain 18 (1.3) ' ' ' ' 31 (1.4) ' ' ' ' 51 (1.8) ' ' ' '
Indiana State, US 22 (1.0) 19 (1.4) ' ' 37 (1.2) 50 (1.1) i ' ' 41 (1.5) 30 (1.8) h ' '
Ontario Province, Can. 30 (1.1) 27 (1.4) h 24 (1.2) h 40 (1.1) 47 (1.1) i 54 (1.5) i 30 (1.3) 26 (1.2) h 22 (1.6) h
Quebec Province, Can. 19 (0.8) 10 (2.3) h 20 (2.3) 52 (0.9) 37 (4.2) h 51 (1.8) 28 (1.1) 53 (2.3) i 28 (2.1)

h 2003 significantly higher

i 2003 significantly lower

Background data provided by students. () Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
Did not satisfy guidelines for sample participation rates (see Exhibit A.9). some totals may appear inconsistent.
Trend notes: Because of differences in population coverage, 1999 data are not shown for Australia, Latvia, A dash () indicates comparable data are not available.
Morocco, and Slovenia, and 1995 data are not shown for Israel, Italy, Latvia, and South Africa. Korea An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
tested later in 2003 than in 1999 and 1995, at the beginning of the next school year. Similarly, Lithuania A diamond (') indicates the country did not participate in the assessment.
tested later in 1999 than in 2003 and 1995.

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 159
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS TIMSS2003
Exhibit 4.11: Trends in I Enjoy Learning Mathematics MATHEMATICS
Grade 4

SOURCE: IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003
Agree A Lot Agree A Little Disagree

Countries 2003 1995 2003 1995 2003 1995

Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of Percent of
Students Students Students Students Students Students
Armenia 71 (1.1) ' ' 8 (0.7) ' ' 20 (0.9) ' '
Australia 52 (1.4) 41 (1.1) h 27 (1.2) 42 (0.9) i 20 (0.9) 17 (0.7) h
Belgium (Flemish) 27 (0.8) ' ' 38 (0.7) ' ' 35 (1.2) ' '
Chinese Taipei 31 (0.9) ' ' 35 (0.8) ' ' 34 (1.0) ' '
Cyprus 57 (1.2) 73 (1.2) i 24 (0.7) 22 (1.1) 19 (0.9) 5 (0.5) h
England 43 (1.2) 53 (1.4) i 27 (0.8) 31 (1.0) i 30 (1.3) 16 (1.0) h
Hong Kong, SAR 30 (1.2) 34 (1.6) i 42 (0.8) 49 (1.2) i 28 (1.0) 17 (1.0) h
Hungary 49 (1.3) 32 (1.3) h 27 (0.9) 45 (1.2) i 24 (1.2) 23 (1.5)
Iran, Islamic Rep. of r 81 (1.4) 72 (1.7) h 11 (1.1) 22 (1.3) i 7 (0.8) 5 (0.7)
Italy 40 (1.2) 41 (0.9) 19 (1.0)
Japan 29 (1.0) 16 (0.8) h 36 (0.8) 56 (1.0) i 35 (1.2) 28 (1.1) h
Latvia 49 (1.1) 30 (0.8) 21 (0.9)
Lithuania 58 (1.0) ' ' 25 (0.8) ' ' 17 (0.8) ' '
Moldova, Rep. of 49 (1.3) ' ' 38 (1.1) ' ' 12 (0.8) ' '
Morocco 71 (1.5) ' ' 18 (1.2) ' ' 11 (0.7) ' '
Netherlands 30 (1.3) 28 (1.2) 39 (1.0) 40 (1.3) 31 (1.4) 32 (1.5)
New Zealand 52 (1.1) 45 (1.4) h 29 (1.0) 37 (1.2) i 19 (0.7) 18 (1.0)
Norway 52 (1.5) 52 (1.9) 28 (0.9) 34 (1.4) i 20 (1.1) 14 (1.2) h
Philippines 50 (1.6) ' ' 30 (1.2) ' ' 20 (1.2) ' '
Russian Federation 50 (1.3) ' ' 29 (1.1) ' ' 21 (1.0) ' '
Scotland 50 (1.3) 26 (1.0) 24 (1.1)
Singapore 57 (0.8) 48 (1.0) h 27 (0.5) 44 (0.8) i 15 (0.6) 8 (0.6) h
Slovenia 49 (1.5) 59 (1.7) i 26 (1.1) 31 (1.4) i 24 (1.4) 10 (0.9) h
Tunisia 70 (1.5) ' ' 18 (1.0) ' ' 12 (0.9) ' '
United States 54 (0.9) 47 (1.6) h 25 (0.5) 38 (1.0) i 20 (0.6) 15 (0.9) h
International Avg. 50 (0.2) 46 (0.4) h 28 (0.2) 38 (0.3) i 22 (0.2) 16 (0.3) h
Benchmarking Participants
Indiana State, US 53 (1.7) '' 26 (1.0) '' 21 (1.4) ''
Ontario Province, Can. 48 (1.5) 48 (1.1) 31 (1.1) 41 (1.0) i 21 (1.2) 11 (0.8) h
Quebec Province, Can. 56 (1.2) 57 (2.7) 32 (1.0) 35 (2.8) 12 (0.8) 8 (1.4) h

h 2003 significantly higher

i 2003 significantly lower

Background data provided by students. A dash () indicates comparable data are not available.
Trend notes: Because of differences between 1995 and 2003 in population coverage, 1995 data are not An r indicates data are available for at least 70 but less than 85% of the students.
shown for Italy and Latvia. 1995 data for New Zealand in this exhibit include students in English medium A diamond (') indicates the country did not participate in the assessment.
instruction only (>98% of the estimated population).
( ) Standard errors appear in parentheses. Because results are rounded to the nearest whole number,
some totals may appear inconsistent.

160 TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE
CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

TIMSS & PIRLS INTERNATIONAL STUDY CENTER, LYNCH SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, BOSTON COLLEGE 161

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CHAPTER 4: STUDENTS' BACKGROUNDS AND ATTITUDES TOWARDS MATHEMATICS

What Educational Resources Do Students Have in Their Homes?

IEA's ongoing assessments of student achievement in mathematics

Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average Percent of Average

in relation to their average mathematics achievement, shows that this

the Philippines, Singapore, and South Africa, testing in all possible

home was associated with higher student achievement. Exhibit 4.5

How Much of Their Out-of-School Time Do Students Spend on

Countries Watch Play Read

How Condent Are Students in Their Ability

To investigate how students think of their abilities in mathematics,

I usually do well in mathematics;

Mathematics is more difcult for me than for many of my classmates;*

Mathematics is not one of my strengths;*

I learn things quickly in mathematics.

What Value Do Students Place on Mathematics?

Students' motivation to learn mathematics can be affected by whether

I would like to take more mathematics in school;

I enjoy learning mathematics;

I think learning mathematics will help me in my daily life;

I need mathematics to learn other school subjects;

I need to do well in mathematics to get into the university of my

I would like a job that involved using mathematics;

I need to do well in mathematics to get the job I want.

Students who agreed a little or agreed a lot on average with all

students at the high level included Morocco, Botswana, Ghana, Egypt,

h 2003 significantly higher

i 2003 significantly lower

Countries 2003 1995 2003 1995 2003 1995

h 2003 significantly higher

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