TIMSS: Math Scores Up, But What Does This Mean?

According to results of the latest Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) survey recently reported in the New York Times, math scores of fourth- and eighth-grade students in the United States have risen but still fall short of those in some Asian and other countries. Science scores have not increased, and educators are concerned that U.S. students will not be competitive with those from higher-scoring nations.

But what does it mean when students do better than average on a test? It could mean several things. Perhaps these students learned certain math facts that enabled them to solve problems that students without those facts couldn't solve. Maybe teachers in higher-scoring countries (and states) "taught to the test" more so than did teachers elsewhere. Perhaps the textbooks were better at conveying concepts clearly and providing opportunities to consolidate learning.

Whatever the reason (or reasons) behind the improvement, whether scoring well on a test will ultimately translate into making U.S. students more economically competitive is unclear. These sorts of tests don't measure students' feelings about math or motivation to do it.

Yes, students can spend hours drilling basic math facts, completing repetitive worksheets, and otherwise "getting ahead" in math. But even if they "like" the subject because (at least for the time being) they appear to be better at it than their peers who haven't trained so rigorously, there's little point if the work doesn't ultimately inspire them.

Rather than seeing a major increase in math scores so that U.S. students are on a par with those in Singapore and Taiwan, it would be far better to witness a big jump in the percentage of students who decide to become mathematicians or scientists. Better still would be if those same students made that decision out of a love for the subject matter.