Pursuing Excellence: Comparisons of International Eighth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement from a U.S. Perspective, 1995 and 1999. Initial Findings from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study-Repeat

摘要

International comparisons of student achievement and various background factors related to teaching and learning have been conducted for over 30 years. Many observers believe that such comparisons can help policymakers, researchers, teachers, and parents understand what other nations do to further the educational achievement of their populations. Some also believe that if the United States wants to remain internationally competitive, we need to better understand how our students perform in critical areas such as mathematics and science. Moreover, some are of the opinion that international assessments are one way of seeing what our national, state, and local standards mean in a world context. In short, international assessments can expand comparisons of educational achievement to other systems outside the United States; aid in our understanding of the possible reasons for observed differences in achievement; document the many varied education and learning practices around the world; get a sense of resources available to students in different nations; and improve the study of education itself (Board on International Comparative Studies in Education, 1990; Medrich and Griffith 1992).