given the fact that this little matter of 4% for education is a current political hot potato, and is, contemporaneously, a topic of frenzied discussion in our forum, i am going to take the liberty to express my opinions on the issue, in a series of postings. i intend to ventilate some of the salient issues which affect educational outcomes and fortunes of the student populations. let me preface matters by stating that , absent propely aligned INSTITUTIONS,pertaining to issues such as such as

a..the way in which schools are financed and managed

b...performance assessment

c...who makes decisions on matters such as the curriculum

d...who decides whom to hire, and, or, fire

e..what textbooks to use,

all additional money allocated might as well be spent in a gambling parlor. absent effective INSTITUTIONS, the results of TIMSS testings reveal that additional expenditure, and smaller class sizes, correlated negatively to observed test results.

TIMSS is the latest, largest, and most extensive international student achievement testing system ever devised. it tested 13 year olds, generally the 7th and 8th grades, in over 40 countries. the results of 39 countries were tabulated. 250,000 students constitutes a representative sample of the 30 million students in the aforementioned 39 countries. it is one of the findings of the accumulated dataset that TIMSS collected, that ,ABSENT OTHER IMPORTANT FACTORS, additional expenditures, and smaller class sized, have negative, albeit negligible, effects on outcomes.

The 5 main institutional features of a nation's education system are

1..Centralized examinations, based on a common curriculum, or syllabus, of studies

2...Distribution of decision making powers between schools, and their governing bodies

3..the level of influence wielded by teachers, and teachers unions, upon school policy

4..the distribution of decision making powers amomg levels of governance, be it at the national, regional, or local levels

5...the amount, and effectiveness, of competition from the private sector

all those factors have to be interpolated into any discussion regarding the efficacy of public expenditure on education, in order to occasion optimal outcomes.

NEXT...Standardized Exams

PS....it has been revealed that the DR Ministry of Education has 38 deputy ministers of education. needless to say, most of them are little more than political appartchiks, who are in their positions as a reward for political service. i will bet my dollar, to your donut, that not more than a few of them have a clue about the subject matter. doubling the education budget would probably have the effect of doubling the amount of deputies, since governance in this fair land makes departments such as the Education Ministry little more than a jobs bank for political favorites.

We eagerly await your musings on this subject matter.


"all those factors have to be interpolated into any discussion regarding the efficacy of public expenditure on education, in order to occasion optimal outcomes."


Go interpolate all the relevant points to optimize the educational outcomes for us Dready.

I'm all ears.

one day at a time, Atabey. i am an older guy. my typing fingers tire easily.

Let me help you then.

Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trends_in_International_Mathematics_and_Science_Study
International educational scores (latest, 2007)
(8th graders average score, TIMSS
International Math and Science Study, 2007)
Countries:

(sample) Global

rank --------- ----- Maths ---- Science
--------Rank --------
Singapore -- 1 --- 3 --- 593--- 1 --- 567
Taiwan - 2 1 598 2 561
Sout Korea 3 2 597 4 553
Japan-- 4 5 570 3 554
Hong Kong 5 4 572 9 530
Hungary 6 6 517 6 539
England 7 7 513 5 542
Czech Rep 8 11 504 7 539
Russia - 9 8 512 10 530
Slovenia 10 12 501 8 538
United Stat 11 9 508 11 520
Lithuania 12 10 506 12 519
Australia 13 14 496 13 515
Sweden 14 15 491 14 511
Armenia 15 13 499 17 488
Italy ------ 18 19 480 16 495

Maths Highlights from TIMSS 2007
Science Highlights from TIMSS 2007

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of 9–10 and 13–14 year old (Year 5 and Year 9 or fourth grade and eighth grade) students around the world. TIMSS was developed by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) to allow participating nations to compare students' educational achievement across borders. The IEA also conducts the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS). TIMSS was first administered in 1995, and every 4 years thereafter. In 1995, forty-one nations participated in the study; in 2007, 48 countries participated.[1] Another similar study is the Programme for International Student Assessment.

Method

TIMSS consists of an assessment of mathematics and science, as well as student, teacher, and school questionnaires. The current assessment includes those topics in mathematics and science that students are likely to have been exposed to up to and including grade 4 and grade 8.
[edit] 1995

The 1995 assessment included grades 4, 8, and the final year of high school. To be able to assess the knowledge of students, assessment items exhibit a range of difficulty and complexity. The student questionnaires are designed to collect information on students' backgrounds, attitudes and beliefs related to schooling and learning, information about their classroom experiences, among many other topics. The teacher and school questionnaires asks about class scheduling, mathematics and science content coverage, school policies, teachers' educational backgrounds and preparation, among many other topics.

International educational scores (1995)
(13-year-old's average score, TIMSS
Trends in International Math and Science Study, 1995)


Countries:
(sample) Global
rank Maths Science
Score Rank Score Rank
Singapore 1 643 1 607 1
Japan 2 605 3 571 3
South Korea 3 607 2 565 4
Czech Republic 4 564 6 574 2
Belgium (Fl) 5 565 5 550 11
Hong Kong 6 588 4 522 24
Bulgaria 7 540 11 565 5
Netherlands 8 541 9 560 6
Slovenia 9 541 10 560 7
Austria 10 539 12 558 8
Slovakia 11 547 7 544 13
Hungary 12 537 14 554 9
Australia 13 530 16 545 12
Russia 14 535 15 538 14
Switzerland 15 545 8 522 25
Ireland 16 527 17 538 15
Canada 17 527 18 531 18
England 18 506 25 552 10
Sweden 19 519 22 535 16
Thailand 20 522 20 525 21
Israel 21 522 21 524 23
Germany 22 509 23 531 19
France 23 538 13 498 28
United States 24 500 28 534 17
New Zealand 25 508 24 525 22
Norway 26 503 26 527 20
Belgium (W) 27 526 19 471 36
Denmark 28 502 27 478 34
Source: TIMSS data, in The Economist March 29th, 1997, p.25

TIMSS was created through an extensive collaboration among participating countries. Curriculum, measurement, and education experts from around the world worked together to create the assessment frameworks, item pools, and questionnaires. TIMSS is based on the curricula of schools around the world, and is organized to investigate how students are provided educational opportunities, and the factors that influence how students make use of these opportunities. Having its basis in the curricula of schools around the world, TIMSS intends to investigate three levels: the intended curriculum; the implemented curriculum; and the achieved curriculum. The intended curriculum is defined as the mathematics and science that societies intend for students to learn and how education systems are organized to meet this demand; the implemented curriculum is what is actually taught in classrooms, who teaches it, and how it is taught; the achieved curriculum is what students have learned. The various questionnaires seek information on the intended and implemented curriculum; the assessment seeks to ascertain what students know.

The U.S. was one of the few countries whose 12th graders scored lower than 8th graders in both math and science. Where eighth grade boys scored only 3 points lower than Norway's (502 vs 505), twelfth grade boys scored 143 points lower (446 vs 589, for a relative decrease of 140 points), Where eighth grade boys scored 30 points higher than Cyprus (502 vs 472), 12th grade boys scored 115 points lower (446 vs 561) for a 145 point swing. Latvian boys scored 6 points lower at eighth grade but 63 points higher at twelfth grade for a 69 point swing, Denmark 9 points higher at the 8th grade and 94 points higher at the 12 grade for an 85 point swing, Sweden 18 points higher, then 140 points higher for a 122 point swing, Greece 12 points lower, then 79 points higher for a 91 point swing, Russia 33 points higher, then 117 points higher for a 150 point swing.

The relative performance in general science knowledge per Table A5.6 U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics "Pursuing Excellence: A Study of U.S. Twelfth-Grade Mathematics and Science Achievement in International Context" NCES 98-049. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1998. February 1998 REVISED August 1998 Available for downloading at http://nces.ed.gov/timss

was in some ways slightly better than the performance in math. Cyprus, South Africa, Lithuania and Hungary scored lower than 12th grade boys, and Cyprus, South Africa, Lithuania, Hungary, Italy, France, Russia, and the Czech Republic scored lower than 12th grade girls--about 30 points lower (except for South Africa whose boys scored 125 points lower than boys and whose girls scored 133 points lower than girls {sic}). New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden, Austria, and Norway all scored 55 or more points higher, with the Netherlands scoring 90 points higher than boys and Sweden scoring 65 points higher than girls.

The amount by which we scored lower than the Netherlands was in the range of the amount by which South Africa scored lower than the United States (90 points vs. 125 points). Excluded from this list are the Asian nations (Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong) who did not participate at the 12th grade level and who all scored more than 100 points higher at the 8th grade level. Had their 12th graders participated it is very likely that they all would have scored higher than the United States by an amount much greater than the amount by which the United States scored higher than South Africa.

[edit] United States 2007
International educational math scores (2007)
(4th graders average score, TIMSS
International Math and Science Study, 2007)
American students:
(by origin) Maths
Score
Asian American 582
European American 550
Hispanic American 504
African American 482

Highlights From TIMSS 2007

In the United States, TIMSS is conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics of the U.S. Department of Education.

Data for US students is further tracked for ethnic and racial groups, which can be tracked as the nation. As a whole, grade four students in the United States lagged the best Asian and European nations in the 2007 TIMSS international math and science test. However, broken down by race, Asian Americans scored comparably to Asian nations, European Americans scored comparably to the best European nations (although European nations aggregate their own result independent of race or origin). Hispanic Americans averaged 505, comparable to students in Austria and Sweden, while African Americans at 482 were comparable to Norway.

Grade eight students in the United States also lagged the best Asian and European nations in the 2007 TIMSS international math and science test. Broken down by race, in math, US Asians scored comparably to, although lower than sampled Asian nations, at 549, white Americans scored comparably to, although more strongly than, the best European nations, at 533, Hispanic Americans averaged 475, comparable to students in Malaysia and Norway, while African Americans at 457 were comparable to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Lebanon.[2]
[edit] Top 10 countries by subject and year

thanks for publishing the data. i will deal with some findings on a daily basis, if i detect any interest in the thread. that was not intended to be a slight, but it is hard work staying up nights to do research and compose an essay, then only the two of us bother with it.

Research on causes of country differences

PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS, their organizers and researchers, are restrained in giving reasons for the large and stable country differences.

Cautiously they leave this task to other researchers, especially from the economic sciences and psychology. Economic researchers studied single educational policy factors like central exams (John Bishop),[9] private schools or streaming between schools at later age (Hanushek/Woessman).[10] An extensive literature related to cross-countries difference in scores has developed since 2000.[11]

The stable, good results of Finland have attracted a lot of attention.

According to Hannu Simola[12] the results are not due to attributes of the educational system, but are due to

1. disciplined students,
2. the respected status of teachers (attracting good students to the teaching profession),
3. high quality of teachers due to professional teacher education,
4. conservative direct instruction ("teaching ex cathedra", "pedagogical conservatism",
5. low rates of immigration,
6. fast diagnosis of learning problems and treatment of them including special schools,
7. and the culture of a small border country (as in Singapore and Taiwan) feeling that the people could survive only with effort.

8. Others have suggested that Finland's low poverty rate is a reason for its success.[13][14]

Systematic analyses across different paradigms (culture, genes, wealth, educational policies) for 78 countries were presented by Heiner Rindermann and Stephen Ceci[15]:

They report positive relationships between student ability and educational levels of adults, amount and rate of preschool education, discipline, quantity of institutionalized education, attendance at additional schools, early tracking and the use of central exams and tests.

Rather negative relationships were found with

1. high repetition rates,
2. late school enrollment and
3. large class sizes.

In their opinion the results suggest that international differences in cognitive competence could be narrowed by reforms in educational policy.

Rather negative relationships were found with

1. high repetition rates,
2. late school enrollment and
3. large class sizes.

What developing nation happens to have all these conditions

And only spends 2% of PIB-with a forty year average under 2% of PIB And have I mentioned a large illegal migratory population that have, on average, even LESS SCHOOLING than the National average in DR

Good Dready. Let's collaborate on this one.

i happen to like the idea of collaboration. you mentioned one issue, which is that of repetition rates. the body of data states that the cost of repetition in Latin America, in just the first grade, costs 200 million dollars per year! one grade! another interesting tidbit is that children from homes with less than 10 books on the bookshelf score 54 points less in math, and 57 points less in science, than students from homes with more than 200 books. that points to the disadvantages occasioned by the family situation. very interesting.

Dready,

What cooking