In 2023, IEA and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center conducted the eighth cycle of TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) at the fourth and eighth grades. The results of the assessment will provide nearly 30 years of trend data on student achievement in mathematics and science. TIMSS 2023 saw the completion of TIMSS’ transition to digital assessment, which began with TIMSS 2019, reflecting the widespread use of technology in schools and society. The TIMSS 2023 assessments offered new and engaging item formats and interactive features and scenario-based Problem Solving and Inquiry tasks (PSIs) that were created to motivate students and capitalize on the digital environment.

TIMSS provides important data on student achievement trends over time. Since 1995, TIMSS data have been an invaluable tool for countries to make evidence-based decisions about their education systems and policies. Countries can compare their recent results with those of previous cycles to measure growth, assess the impact of education policies and curricula, and compare their results to those of other countries. Over seventy countries and benchmarking systems participated in TIMSS 2023.

Benefits of TIMSS 2023

• Capitalizing on the Digital Environment to Better Measure Achievement

  The TIMSS 2023 mathematics and science assessments are based on comprehensive frameworks developed collaboratively with the participating countries. The digital format of the TIMSS 2023 assessments stimulates student interest and motivation in the assessment and in turn, provides better information about what students know and can do. Moreover, a digital format also enables TIMSS to assess areas of the frameworks that are difficult to assess with a paper-and-pencil format. For example, in TIMSS PSIs, students integrate and apply process skills and content knowledge to solve mathematics problems or conduct virtual experiments and investigations.

• Understanding Contexts for Learning

  TIMSS asks students, their parents or caregivers, their teachers, and their school principals to complete questionnaires about their home and school experiences and instructional contexts for learning mathematics and science. When examined in relation to student achievement, contextual data provide important insights into home and school factors that are associated with student achievement and can suggest avenues for educational improvement. The context questionnaire data complement the TIMSS Encyclopedia, which includes chapters, authored by country representatives, which describe countries’ education systems and mathematics and science curricula.

• Collecting Process Data to Provide Insights into Student Approaches

  TIMSS 2023 captures student response data and event log data as a comprehensive sequence of student interactions with the assessment interface, items, and active objects, providing a full history of how each student navigated through the assessment. The rich process data collected allows for understanding student engagement with the assessment and can reveal which student approaches are successful or unsuccessful, providing information to help improve mathematics and science instruction.

• Targeting Assessments to Student Populations

  The TIMSS 2023 assessments are based on a group-adaptive design, which provides a better match between the difficulty of the assessment and student achievement and, in turn, provides better measurement at all achievement levels.