Download TIMSS 2019 Context Questionnaire Framework (pdf)
Home Contexts
Parents or guardians and the general home environment are very influential on children’s upbringing and their success in school. To better understand the effects of the home context on student achievement in mathematics and science, TIMSS 2019 will collect data through the home questionnaire given to the parents or caregivers of fourth grade students, supplemented by the student questionnaire at the fourth and eighth grades. This will include the following topics:
- Home resources for learning
- Language(s) spoken in the home
- Early literacy and numeracy activities
- Preprimary education
Home Resources for Learning
In education research, the aspects of home background that show the most consistent association with student achievement tend to be those that measure the socioeconomic status of the parents or caregivers (Dahl & Lochner, 2012; Davis-Kean, 2005; Martin, Foy, Mullis, & O’Dwyer, 2013; Sirin, 2005; Willms, 2006). Socioeconomic status is often indicated through proxy variables such as parental level of education, income, occupational class, and the number of books in the home. TIMSS has developed two scales that expand upon the classic conception of socioeconomic status to include home resources with the potential to facilitate student learning (e.g., an Internet connection): 1) the fourth grade TIMSS Home Resources for Learning scale based primarily on data from the home questionnaire, and 2) the eighth grade Home Educational Resources scale based on the data from the eighth grade student questionnaire. These two scales have shown a strong positive relationship with students’ mathematics and science achievement in previous TIMSS cycles, and also will be included in TIMSS 2019.
Language(s) Spoken in the Home
TIMSS 2019 will collect information from students and parents on the language the child speaks in the home. Internationally, there are many reasons why some children speak a different language in the home than they do in the school. Some countries have numerous national languages and in these countries it is not uncommon for students to speak one language at home and another at school. Speaking another language in the home can also be common among immigrant families. In addition, some parents prioritize multilingualism and make great efforts to ensure their child is exposed to more than one language in the home.
Early Literacy and Numeracy Activities
Children’s first teachers are their parents/guardians. The TIMSS 2019 home questionnaire will ask the parents/guardians of fourth grade students to provide information on the frequency that they engaged their child in early literacy and numeracy activities before beginning primary school. The questionnaire also will ask parents to report how well their child could do certain literacy and numeracy tasks upon entering primary school.
Considerable research, including results from TIMSS and PIRLS, has documented the importance of early childhood learning activities and their relationship with student achievement and other educational outcomes (Anders et al., 2012; Gustafsson, Hansen, & Rosén, 2013; Hart & Risley, 2003; Hooper, 2017; Melhuish et al., 2008; Sarama & Clements, 2009; Sénéchal & LeFevre, 2002; Skwarchuk, Sowinski, & LeFevre, 2014).
Engaging children in early numeracy activities can stimulate their interest in mathematics and enhance the development of their numeracy skills (Anders et al., 2012; Claessens & Engel, 2013; Melhuish et al., 2008; Sarama & Clements, 2009). These activities include playing with blocks or construction toys, saying counting rhymes or singing counting songs, playing games involving shapes, and playing other types of games that involve quantitative reasoning. Students who have early numeracy skills when entering school often have higher achievement in primary school (Duncan et al., 2007; Princiotta, Flanagan, & Hausken, 2006).
As recently demonstrated by analyses of TIMSS and PIRLS 2011 data (Gustafsson et al., 2013; Punter, Glas, & Meelissen, 2016), both early numeracy and literacy activities are related to a child’s fourth grade achievement in mathematics, science, and reading. The association between early literacy activities and mathematics achievement could be linked to the fact that completing numeracy tasks often requires reading skills (Mullis, Martin, & Foy, 2013).
Preprimary Education
TIMSS 2019 will collect data from parents on the duration of their child’s preprimary school attendance—consistently identifying a positive relationship between duration of preprimary attendance and student achievement. Much research has detailed the importance of preprimary education (e.g., preschool, Kindergarten, early childhood education programs) on fostering higher academic outcomes (Duncan & Magnusson, 2013). It is argued that high quality preprimary education and other early childhood interventions are especially beneficial for disadvantaged students because they can play an important role in breaking the generationally repetitive cycle of poverty and low achievement (Duncan & Sojourner, 2013; Heckman & Masterov, 2007).