The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth and eighth grade students around the world. TIMSS was developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) to allow participating nations to compare students’ educational
achievement across borders.

TIMSS was first administered in 1995, and every four years thereafter – 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2015. For participating countries TIMSS provides a series of trend measures. Fifty-nine countries and nations and 425000 students participated in TIMSS in 2015.

TIMSS is designed to align broadly with mathematics and science curricula in the participating countries. The results, therefore, suggest the degree to which students have learned the mathematics and science concepts and skills likely to have been taught in school. TIMSS also collects background information on students, teachers and schools to allow cross-national comparison of educational contexts that may be related to student achievement.

TIMSS estimates mathematics and science achievement and attempts to explain students’ performance using contextual
information. The TIMSS design also offers participating countries an opportunity to measure changes over time. The goal of the study is to help countries make informed decisions about how to improve teaching and learning in mathematics and science.