The influence of implemented curriculum variable on TIMSS 2007 Mathematics assessment

초록

In this study, the TIMSS 2007 International Mathematics report was analyzed to better understand the influence of the implemented curriculum variable on the TIMSS test scores. The motivation for the study was to determine if the test scores of different countries could be compared directly to make curriculum and policy recommendations based on the relative success of each country. Among the many variables, the implemented curriculum variable was chosen for the study because of the wide variation reported among the countries. The expectation for the study was that average test scores of the countries should be influenced by the implemented curriculum variable but the degree of influence was not known. A simple linear regression analysis of the average assessment scores versus the average percentage of students taught the TIMSS mathematics topics for each country at the time of the test showed a strong correlation for algebra at the 8th grade level. When comparing the algebra test score of the 30 countries with similar 8th grade intended algebra curriculum, up to about half of the variation in the algebra test scores could be attributed to the implementation difference at the time of the test.

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