Exhibit 1.8 presents the percentages of students reaching each TIMSS 2019 International Benchmark. The results are presented in descending order according to the percentage of students reaching the Advanced International Benchmark, which is indicated on the graph with black dots. Because students who reached the Advanced Benchmark also reached the other benchmarks, the percentages illustrated in the exhibit and shown in the columns to the right are cumulative. The five highest-performing East Asian countries had the highest percentages of students reaching the Advanced International Benchmark. More than half of the fourth grade students reached the Advanced International Benchmark in Singapore (54%), and one-third or more did so in Hong Kong SAR (38%), Korea (37%), Chinese Taipei (37%), and Japan (33%). Northern Ireland had about one-fourth (26%) of its students reaching the Advanced International Benchmark, and England and the Russian Federation had about one-fifth (21% and 20%, respectively).

Most countries had fewer than 10 percent of their fourth grade students performing at the Advanced level. As a point of reference, Exhibit 1.8 provides the international median percentage of students reaching each benchmark at the bottom of the four right-hand columns. By definition, half the countries have a percentage in that column above the median and half below the median. The median percentages of students reaching the International Benchmarks were as follows: Advanced—7 percent, High—34 percent, Intermediate—71 percent, and Low—92 percent. Many TIMSS 2019 countries had more than 90 percent of their fourth grade students reaching the Low Benchmark, which can be considered a level of minimum proficiency internationally. In 6 countries, essentially all the students reached this benchmark—100 percent in Hong Kong SAR and Chinese Taipei, and 99 percent in Singapore, Korea, Japan, and the Russian Federation.

Not only are the East Asian countries and the Russian Federation educating high percentages of their students to an advanced level, they are educating all of their students to a level of minimal proficiency.