I’m not sure how TIMSS can compare student achievement between countries; it only seems to measure how well students meet national expectations. 

“The questions in the TIMSS achievement tests were based on the curricula in participating countries, and to the extent that these curricula reflected national standards in science and mathematics, the tests provide a general indication of how well students are meeting those standards. “

(Global Perspectives for Local Action: Using TIMSS to Improve U.S. Mathematics and Science Education, pp 20)  http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=9605

This article was stimulating and enlightening for the openness of its focus on discussing and exploring the nuance of the academic testing results rather than turning it into a polarized, endless political argument.  It is only when all parties arrive at the discussion table unburdened of preconditioned thinking and prejudice that any progress can be made in finding a balanced and equitable way forward. Denial, sophistry and arrogant condescension have little or no place in an open and humble dialog.  I found this comment at the end of the article to be most telling and profound:

“Michael P Goldenberg
5:15 PM on December 23, 2012
I think we should look towards Finland for its treatment of children and its economic equity. Test scores are simply baloney. Quality of life and treatment of the elderly, the poor, the young, and the infirm speak volumes. Our track record there is pitiful, theirs is admirable, and so the snarks wait to find meaningless test scores upon which to base an attack.

Let it be clear, I am no social bleeding heart but this man captures the essence of human progress or lack thereof.  From my viewpoint, the organized labour part of the equation is very long on pushing this position provided that their feathered chair is not disturbed or perchance a suggestion is made that their chair has too many feathers compared to many others who are less fortunate.  Or that the reinforcement of their position has little or no benefit to any but themselves.

It was always fascinating to me as a boy as I observed and was a part of the Catholic education system. This was the period when the religious orders were still active in the system operating on the principles of their vocations in life with little compensation beyond the bare sustenance of their lives. One could see how powerful example radiated through a system that was grossly underfunded and still remains so to a lesser extent on funds, to a much larger extent on principle. It is this power of community leadership by example that organized labour has abandoned in practice much like the banks abandoned their principles to sell sub-prime mortgages to unqualified home buyers.

In the end,  organized labour has painted itself into the position of being a monetary negotiator spewing empty rhetoric who has effectively squandered their clients (the teachers) natural position of leadership/influence in the community.  There is little difference between the union’s and the bankers moral bankruptcy.

Frank is totally correct re Finland. In a nutshell the poor do badly in school in every nation so Finland correctly worked to eliminate poverty. It shut off the low achievemnt tap rather thsn mopping the floor as it were.

Organized labour is the spine of the social progressive movement giving literally millions to other social movements of the progressive kind. It also gives its facilities free, loans organizers etc.

There are those who believe labour is taking the resources that should otherwise go to poorer people. Wrong. The % taken by labour has remained the same or in some cases shrunk. The fat cats who have acted like parasites since the 1980s are the 1%ers that have grown fat off tax cuts but refused to reinvest preferring conspicuous consumption, and Cayman Island bank accounts.

BTW i think we would all agree that real life is about problem solving. As such PISA is the world leader.

I agree with your last comment, Joe, however it would be nice to see Ontario graduates able to read, write coherently and spell!

Well there is nobody that reads and writes and spells much better than Ontario and there is no time in the past when we did a better job. The basic idea is that we may have some small lessons to learn from Finland and other leaders like Canada but we have nothing to learn from the USA an educational laggard.

haha!  Oh, sorry.  I guess you weren’t joking, Joe.

Tom, it is my impression that the students in every country were given the same test. The relevant part of your reference reads as follows: “The questions in the TIMSS achievement tests were based on the curricula in participating countries, and to the extent that these curricula reflected national standards in science and mathematics, the tests provide a general indication of how well students are meeting those standards. However, the TIMSS achievement tests were not aligned with the standards of any one country, such as those of the United States.  Elsewhere (http://timss.bc.edu/timss2003i/released.html) I read that the TIMSS tests “were developed through an international consensus-building process involving input from experts in education, mathematics, science, and measurement”.

How do they obtain the data on Canadian students?

No Bev I was not joking. I guess if you think I am wrong you will be able to point to a time or place where somone did better.

I read the first few pages looking for a statement of what the TIMSS was trying to assess, this comes at the end of the first chapter.

Now that you point it out, it is a weirdly ambiguous statement.  The TIMSS release is likely more reliable.  Thanks for correcting me.

Charles, I’m not sure what you’re asking. The tests are administered to a representative sample of Canadian students, like in other countries.

Well, exactly. What are the logistics of this thing? We’re always hearing about the dreaded EQAO tests and the grade ten literacy test required for graduation.

Who are these students? How are they selected? From what provinces/grades? Where are the tests administered? How long do they take? Do the students do them in their own schools or are they shipped elsewhere?

Oops.  That’s the danger of scanning and looking for a specific answer.  The authors were making the point that unlike PISA which is a horserace, TIMSS examined textbooks, teaching practices, time-on-task, curriculum expectations, policy, outside influences on teachers and students, and more.  But of course if you just read the scores then TIMSS is a horserace too.  My bad.

To Charles’s question, data was collected from 63 countries, with 14 countries or regions serving as ‘benchmarks’ and providing more detailed information.  Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec all served as benchmarks.  Statistics Canada was a major participant in assembling the data.

Charles asks about the logistics of the various tests. As Tom says, the international tests work on the basis of representative samples. The EQAO tests, however, supposedly test every student in the province, although in practice, they test only about 92% of students.