Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study Advanced 2015 In 2015, IEA and its TIMSS and PIRLS International Study Center at Boston College conducted TIMSS 2015 at fourth and eighth grades and TIMSS Advanced 2015 for students in the final year of secondary school enrolled in advanced mathematics and physics programs or tracks. Both TIMSS 2015 and TIMSS Advanced 2015 provide 20-year trend measures for countries that participated in the first TIMSS assessments in 1995. TIMSS Advanced 2015 monitors global trends in the achievement of students in their final year of secondary school who are engaged in advanced mathematics and physics studies that prepare them to enter STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) programs in higher education. With the current emphasis on college and career readiness and increasing global competitiveness in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields, in 2015 TIMSS Advanced once again was joined with TIMSS. First conducted in 1995 as part of TIMSS and then separately again in 2008, TIMSS Advanced is the only international assessment that provides essential information about students’ achievement in advanced mathematics and physics. It assesses students in their final year of secondary school (often 12th grade) who are engaged in advanced mathematics and physics studies that prepare them to enter STEM programs in higher education.

TIMSS

Educational measurements and tests

Target population (students) All students in their final year of secondary school (often 12th grade) who are engaged in advanced mathematics and physics studies that prepare them to enter STEM programs in higher education

STRATIFIED TWO-STAGE CLUSTER SAMPLE DESIGN