The TIMSS 2019 fourth grade mathematics assessment was based on a comprehensive assessment framework developed collaboratively with the participating countries to reflect their curricular goals. The fourth grade mathematics assessment included three content areas—number, which included prealgebra (50%); measurement and geometry (30%); and data (20%). In accordance with the framework, the majority of TIMSS 2019 mathematics items assessed fourth grade students’ applying and reasoning skills. To cover the framework at the fourth grade, the TIMSS 2019 mathematics assessment comprised 175 assessment items.

This cycle marked the beginning of the transition to a computer-based assessment system. More than half of the TIMSS 2019 countries administered the assessment in an “e” (electronic) format and almost half administered the assessment in a paper format, as in TIMSS 2015. The “e” countries also administered the trend items in the paper format to provide a bridge to the TIMSS 2015 and TIMSS 2019 paper-based assessments. At the fourth grade, the paper-based assessment also was available in a less difficult version, with some items being less difficult, and the rest of the items in common with the regular version. Some countries opted to administer the less difficult TIMSS mathematics assessment at fourth grade in order to better measure student achievement of their student populations. The assessment was carefully designed and analyzed, so that the TIMSS 2019 mathematics achievement results for all 58 countries are reported on the same TIMSS fourth grade mathematics scale.

Exhibit 1.1 presents the average achievement at the fourth grade for each participating country (from highest to lowest) together with the scale score distribution underlying the average scale score. Exhibit 1.2 shows whether relatively small differences in average achievement between one country and the next are statistically significant.

The five East Asian countries had the highest average achievement, with Singapore having higher average achievement than all of the other TIMSS 2019 countries. Singapore was followed by Hong Kong SAR, Korea, and Chinese Taipei, whose students had similar average achievement that was higher than all the rest of the countries except Singapore. Fourth grade students in Japan had higher achievement than students in all of the other countries except the other four East Asian countries. In turn, the Russian Federation and Northern Ireland, which performed similarly, had higher achievement than all of the other remaining countries. England and Ireland, and then Latvia, Norway (fifth grade), and Lithuania also performed very well. Essentially, Exhibit 1.2 shows clusters of several similarly performing countries, followed by the next highest achieving clusters of similarly performing countries, and so on.

A number of fourth grade TIMSS 2019 participating countries performed well. Thirty-six countries (including those discussed above) had higher average achievement than the centerpoint of 500 (Exhibit 1.1), which is a point of reference on the TIMSS fourth grade mathematics scale that remains constant from TIMSS assessment to TIMSS assessment. However, there was a considerable difference between the highest average achievement and the lowest. Also, the scale score distributions show that there is wide variation in achievement in every country. Every TIMSS 2019 country has some higher achieving and some lower achieving students.