TIMSS 2007 Assessment Frameworks

Developing the TIMSS 2007 Assessment Frameworks represents an extensive collaborative effort involving individuals and expert groups from more than 60 countries around the world. The document contains three frameworks for implementing TIMSS 2007—the Mathematics Framework, the Science Framework, and the Contextual Framework for questionnaires. It also provides an overview of the assessment design, including general parameters for item development.

The TIMSS content frameworks for 2007 rely heavily on the extensive efforts expended to update the frameworks for 2003, when specific assessment objectives were developed for Grades 4 and 8.  For 2007, there was a further effort to consolidate the major content domains and present them separately for the two grades, as follows:

• Mathematics
  • Grade 4: Number, Geometric Shapes and Measures, Data Display
  • Grade 8:  Number, Algebra, Geometry, Data and Chance
• Science
  • Grade 4: Life Science, Physical Science, Earth Science
  • Grade 8: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science

Both the mathematics and science assessment frameworks also have a cognitive dimension—Knowing, Applying, and Reasoning. To enable reporting by cognitive domains, these also were revised for TIMSS 2007 to sharpen the distinction among categories.

IEA is extremely grateful for the support of the National Center for Education Statistics of the US Department of Education, the US National Science Foundation, the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme, and the participating countries.