In addition to principals’ reports, previous TIMSS assessments have also asked teachers about their perceptions of school safety and found that a strong perception of safety and order in school was related to higher average achievement in mathematics and science. For TIMSS 2019, teachers of students in both the fourth and eighth grade assessments were asked the degree to which they agreed or disagreed with eight statements on the Safe and Orderly School scale (see About the Scale in Exhibit 8.6). Based on their teachers’ responses, students were categorized as being in “very safe and orderly” schools, “somewhat safe and orderly” schools, and “less than safe and orderly” schools.

Exhibits 8.7 and 8.8 present the percentages of fourth grade students in the three categories in relation to average mathematics achievement and average science achievement, respectively. Across countries, on average, more than half the fourth grade students (61%) attended schools judged by their teachers to be “very safe and orderly,” with almost all of the remaining students (36%) in schools perceived to be “somewhat safe and orderly.” Internationally, on average, students attending “very safe and orderly” schools as reported by their teachers had the highest average mathematics achievement (507) and science achievement (497) compared with students in “somewhat safe and orderly” schools (495 in mathematics and 484 in science). Only small percentages of students (4%, on average) were in schools judged to be “less than safe and orderly.”

Exhibits 8.9 and 8.10 present the corresponding Safe and Orderly School scale results at the eighth grade in relation to mathematics achievement and science achievement, respectively. Similar to the fourth grade, almost all the eighth grade students (93% on average across countries) were in “very safe and orderly” or “somewhat safe and orderly” schools, but smaller percentages of eighth grade students were in the “very safe and orderly” category, and larger percentages of were in the “somewhat safe and orderly” category. On average, 48 percent of eighth grade students attended schools judged by their teachers to be “very safe and orderly,” 45 percent were in “somewhat safe and orderly” schools, and 6 percent were in “less than safe and orderly” schools. There was a strong positive association between eighth grade students’ average achievement and their teachers’ reports about school safety, with students in “very safe and orderly” schools having average mathematics achievement 41 points higher than students in “less than safe and orderly” schools (501 vs. 460). Similarly, students in “very safe and orderly” schools had average science achievement 35 points higher than students in “less than safe and orderly” schools (501 vs. 466).