Use and Impact of TIMSS

In Slovenia, TIMSS is recognized as an important source of ideas for changing and improving mathematics and science education, especially at the school level. National results and international comparisons from TIMSS are used by policymakers at the Ministry of Education, Science, and Sport and by specialists at other national institutions as a source of ideas for developing the learning process, particularly when making decisions about changes in curriculum, methods, and teaching priorities. Undesirable national findings often have been used as a basis for developing new national research projects or evaluations to find remedies at a national level. Consequently, some projects were designed specifically as national additions for the next TIMSS cycle (e.g., students’ workload, the influence of socioeconomic factors on achievement, grading of students, and large regional differences in knowledge).

In the last 20 years, almost all of the 450 schools in Slovenia have been included in the samples selected to participate in TIMSS at one time or another. During this period, schools and teachers have learned a great deal about the study and have become familiar with the different methods of reporting results. A national version of released TIMSS test items and other study results, such as nationally reviewed interpretations of benchmarking reports, descriptions of ideas for coding open-ended TIMSS items, and randomly selected student answers to open-ended TIMSS items, are used by subject and curricular specialists in regular teacher professional development sessions and in the education of future teachers. Teachers like to use released TIMSS items in their teaching, and to participate in expert groups or discussions about challenges in mathematics and science instruction as part of national research projects.38

TIMSS 2003 and TIMSS 2007 findings were used in the evaluation of the 1998 national mathematics curriculum. TIMSS results have uncovered gaps and weaknesses in the Slovene curriculum, in addition to low knowledge expectations of students, as evidenced by low student achievement. In 2011, a reviewed curriculum was implemented and TIMSS results from 2011 served as the source for teacher training workshops for working with the curriculum. The main change presents the focus on abstract thinking promoted in TIMSS items.

Positive TIMSS science results for Slovene students have helped science educators continue teaching science as separate subjects from Grades 8 to 13. In addition, while recent discussions among science teachers indicated a desire to spend fewer hours teaching separate science subjects, high TIMSS achievement for Grade 8 students encouraged teachers and schools to retain separate subjects, and indicated that generally the curriculum is well organized.

When TIMSS results indicated unexpected, significant differences in student achievement across the 12 geographical regions of Slovenia, despite having a highly centralized educational system, TIMSS 2011 was extended nationally to allow regional analyses. The results of the study led to decisions regarding additional educational support for schools in specific regions. Other TIMSS 2011 results helped to shift attention to improving teaching to enable more students to reach the highest achievement and cognitive levels, and to better linking science and mathematics knowledge among mathematics and science subjects taught in our schools.