TIMSS 2023 – Highlights of the survey

TIMSS

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) is one of the largest international comparative studies of mathematics and science teaching. Students, parents, teachers and school directors from 72 countries and regions participated in TIMSS 2023.

The main aim of the survey is to provide:

• reliable and comparable data on student achievement across countries and how it varies, including by factors such as students’ gender or social background;
• contextual data, i.e., information about teaching and learning conditions, as well as student and teacher attitudes, which can provide a basis for explaining the observed student performance.

Each edition of the survey selects particular topics for special emphasis. TIMSS 2023 focused on issues relating to sustainable development.

History of the survey

The TIMSS survey has been organised since 1995. It is conducted every 4 years, with Poland participating since 2011. The first edition of the TIMSS survey in Poland was conducted by a team from the Central Examination Board. The implementation of subsequent editions is the responsibility of the Educational Research Institute (IBE), which conducts the survey on behalf of the Ministry of National Education.

Survey participants

Poland’s fourth-grade students participate in the survey, as well as math and science teachers teaching the surveyed class divisions and directors of the schools drawn for the survey. Sampling in each country follows international procedures. First, schools are randomly selected, then specific classes are drawn from those schools. The sample is representative, and the survey makes it possible to make inferences about all fourth-graders in the participating countries, as well as about their math and science teachers and school directors.

The course of the school survey and research tools

The survey is conducted using rigorous survey procedures in place in all countries. The study sessions follow exactly the same course of action so that all students are in comparable conditions. Students take a test to measure their knowledge and understanding of math and science, and complete questionnaires designed to measure attitudes and gather contextual information. Questionnaires on the educational processes at the school and grade level are also filled out by math and science teachers and school directors, as well as by the parents of students from the classes drawn for the survey.

The first edition of the TIMSS survey was conducted exclusively with paper-based tools. Over time, elements of the survey in digital form, using computers or tablets, were gradually introduced. In Poland, the TIMSS survey used paper-based tools until 2019. The 2023 edition was the first year in which students solved all test questions using computers, and school directors and teachers completed their surveys online. Student’s parents completed their questionnaires on paper.

Survey schedule in Poland

The TIMSS 2023 pilot survey in Poland was conducted in March and April 2022, and the main survey was held in April and May 2023.

We would like to thank the students and their parents for participating in the survey. We would also like to thank the school directors, teachers and all those involved in the TIMSS 2023 survey for their cooperation, participation and assistance in its organisation in the schools, stated  Wioleta Dobosz-Leszczyńska, survey coordinator, on behalf of the TIMSS 2023 national survey team.

Survey organisers

The initiator and main organiser of TIMSS is the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). IEA is an international organisation of research institutions and government agencies that has been conducting a number of comparative studies on student competencies for several decades. The International Study Center at Boston College, which works closely with the IEA Secretariat in Amsterdam, has overall oversight of the survey, and is responsible for the survey’s schedule, survey instruments and how it is conducted.

Results of previous editions of the survey

TIMSS 2019 found that the average mathematical achievement of Polish students was 520 points, placing Poland 26th out of 58 countries participating in the survey. A statistically significantly higher average was achieved by students from 19 countries, a lower one by students from 26 countries.

The average score of Polish fourth-graders in science was 531 points, which ranked Poland in 16th place. Students from 10 countries and regions scored significantly better, and the average score of Polish students was significantly higher than that of students from 38 countries. Poland belonged to the group of countries that saw a decrease in the average scores of both science and math compared to the previous (2015) edition of the survey. Results of the 2015 survey show Poland ranking 17th in mathematics and ninth in science among the 47 participating countries.

The variation in Polish students’ performance in math and science was moderate – relatively few achieved very poor results (about 5% in both math and science), but few also achieved the highest results (about 8% in math and about 9% in science).

Poland belonged to the group of 27 countries where boys did slightly better than girls in math problems (the difference was 8 points). Despite the higher average, boys’ achievements were more varied: there were more students among them performing very well or very poorly. The skills of girls, on the other hand, were rather equal in this regard.

As in most of the participating countries, there were no differences between the average scores of boys and girls in the science problems. However, despite a similar average, more male students in Poland performed poorly. Girls in Poland performed better on problems involving biology content, while boys performed better on those involving geography. There was no significant difference in the questions relating to physics between the average performance of boys and girls.

Differences between genders relative to the previous edition of the survey increased. In 2015, the difference in the average score of boys was statistically insignificant. In contrast, girls surveyed in 2019 performed significantly worse on math problems than their 2015 peers.

The TIMSS 2019 survey showed that most Polish children enjoyed going to school, but the percentage was relatively low compared to other countries. Polish students identified with their schools to a lesser extent than students from other countries. As in 2015, Polish fourth-graders’ sense of belonging to their school was one of the lowest among all countries participating in the survey. Boys felt worse about school than girls, and children of better-educated parents were more critical of school. Between 2015 and 2019, a slight decline in having a sense of belonging to school was observed.

For more information, visit the TIMSS, IEA and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College websites.