Missing Links in International Education Studies: Comparing the U.S. with East Asian Countries in TIMSS.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the largest, most comprehensive, and most rigorous international comparison of education ever undertaken. TIMSS findings show similarities and differences in the processes and outcomes of schooling between the United States and East Asian countries, particularly Japan. This report reviews the initial findings from the TIMSS eighth-grade report, with a special focus on the United States and Japan, and discusses missing or incomplete links in international education studies. The initial findings highlight similarities between students' learning experiences at home and critical differences between those at school. These patterns imply that Japanese and U.S. students do not differ in out-of-school learning experiences, but there are differences neglected in TIMSS highlights, such as private tutoring. On the other hand, TIMSS researchers found substantial differences in the content and process of instruction at school and differences in instructional organization. While initial TIMSS findings show that the United States is still far from achieving the national goal of being first in the world in mathematics and science, these aggregate national patterns ignore the enormous local variation in the U.S. It is not clear whether federated countries like the United States are really comparable to other countries. For a valid comparison of the United States with highly centralized East Asian countries, it is suggested that the American states be treated as comparable national units. For a reliable comparison of the countries over time, it is suggested that current practices and outcomes be compared to past counterparts. something that will take into account the possibility of educational convergence between the United States and East Asian countries. To make fair, valid, and reliable comparisons, future international education studies need to take into account the linkages between formal and informal learning, consider local variation within a country, and compare current and past practices and outcomes. (Contains 1 figure, 1 table, and 33 references.) (SLD) Missing Links in International Education Studies: Comparing the U.S. with East Asian Countries in TIMSS