Exhibit 2.8 presents the percentage 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 in 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 two highest-performing countries had the highest percentages of students reaching the Advanced International Benchmark—38 percent in Singapore and 29 percent in Korea. The Russian Federation and Japan were next with 17–18 percent.

Most countries had fewer than 10 percent of their fourth grade students performing at the Advanced Benchmark. In general, more countries are having success in educating their fourth grade students to a minimal level of proficiency in science than to an advanced level. As a point of reference, Exhibit 2.8 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—6 percent, High—32 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, and in three countries—Korea, the Russian Federation, and Chinese Taipei—essentially all the students (99%) reached this benchmark.