The U.S. average mathematics score at grade 4 (541)
was higher than the international TIMSS scale average,
which is set at 500.
• At grade 4, the United States was among the top 15
education systems in mathematics (8 education systems
had higher averages and 6 were not measurably
different) and scored higher, on average, than 42
education systems.
• The 8 education systems with average mathematics
scores above the U.S. score were Singapore, Korea,
Hong Kong-CHN, Chinese Taipei-CHN, Japan,
Northern Ireland-GBR, North Carolina-USA, and
Belgium (Flemish)-BEL. ...
• At grade 8, the United States was among the top 24
education systems in mathematics (11 education
systems had higher averages and 12 were not
measurably different) and scored higher, on average,
than 32 education systems.
• The 11 education systems with average mathematics
scores above the U.S. score were Korea, Singapore,
Chinese Taipei-CHN, Hong Kong-CHN, Japan,
Massachusetts-USA, Minnesota-USA, the Russian
Federation, North Carolina-USA, Quebec-CAN, and
Indiana-USA.
At grade 8, the United States was among the top
23 education systems in science (12 education
systems had higher averages and 10 were
not measurably different) and scored higher,
on average, than 33 education systems.
• The 12 education systems with average science scores
above the U.S. score were Singapore, MassachusettsUSA,
Chinese Taipei-CHN, Korea, Japan, MinnesotaUSA,
Finland, Alberta-CAN, Slovenia, the Russian
Federation, Colorado-USA, and Hong Kong-CHN.
For example, here is 8th grade math:
| Grade 8 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Education system | Average score | ||
| TIMSS scale average | 500 | ||
| Korea, Rep. of | 613 | △ | |
| Singapore1 | 611 | △ | |
| Chinese Taipei-CHN | 609 | △ | |
| Hong Kong-CHN | 586 | △ | |
| Japan | 570 | △ | |
| Russian Federation1 | 539 | △ | |
| Israel2 | 516 | ||
| Finland | 514 | ||
| United States1 | 509 | ||
| England-GBR3 | 507 | ||
| Hungary | 505 | ||
| Australia | 505 | ||
| Slovenia | 505 | ||
| Lithuania4 | 502 | ||
| Italy | 498 | ▽ | |
| New Zealand | 488 | ▽ | |
| Kazakhstan | 487 | ▽ | |
| Sweden | 484 | ▽ | |
| Ukraine | 479 | ▽ | |
| Norway | 475 | ▽ | |
| Armenia | 467 | ▽ | |
| Romania | 458 | ▽ | |
| United Arab Emirates | 456 | ▽ | |
| Turkey | 452 | ▽ | |
| Lebanon | 449 | ▽ | |
| Malaysia | 440 | ▽ | |
| Georgia4,5 | 431 | ▽ | |
| Thailand | 427 | ▽ | |
| Macedonia, Rep. of6 | 426 | ▽ | |
| Tunisia | 425 | ▽ | |
| Chile | 416 | ▽ | |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. of6 | 415 | ▽ | |
| Qatar6 | 410 | ▽ | |
| Bahrain6 | 409 | ▽ | |
| Jordan6 | 406 | ▽ | |
| Palestinian Nat'l Auth.6 | 404 | ▽ | |
| Saudi Arabia6 | 394 | ▽ | |
| Indonesia6 | 386 | ▽ | |
| Syrian Arab Republic6 | 380 | ▽ | |
| Morocco7 | 371 | ▽ | |
| Oman6 | 366 | ▽ | |
| Ghana7 | 331 | ▽ | |
| Benchmarking education systems | |||
| Massachusetts-USA1,4 | 561 | △ | |
| Minnesota-USA4 | 545 | △ | |
| North Carolina-USA2,4 | 537 | △ | |
| Quebec-CAN | 532 | △ | |
| Indiana-USA1,4 | 522 | △ | |
| Colorado-USA4 | 518 | ||
| Connecticut-USA1,4 | 518 | ||
| Florida-USA1,4 | 513 | ||
| Ontario-CAN1 | 512 | ||
| Alberta-CAN1 | 505 | ||
| California-USA1,4 | 493 | ▽ | |
| Dubai-UAE | 478 | ▽ | |
| Alabama-USA4 | 466 | ▽ | |
| Abu Dhabi-UAE | 449 | ▽ | |
| △ Average score is higher than U.S. average score. | |||
| ▽ Average score is lower than U.S. average score. | |||
Here's 8th grade science:
| Grade 8 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Education system | Average score | ||
| TIMSS scale average | 500 | ||
| Singapore1 | 590 | △ | |
| Chinese Taipei-CHN | 564 | △ | |
| Korea, Rep. of | 560 | △ | |
| Japan | 558 | △ | |
| Finland | 552 | △ | |
| Slovenia | 543 | △ | |
| Russian Federation1 | 542 | △ | |
| Hong Kong-CHN | 535 | △ | |
| England-GBR2 | 533 | ||
| United States1 | 525 | ||
| Hungary | 522 | ||
| Australia | 519 | ||
| Israel3 | 516 | ||
| Lithuania4 | 514 | ▽ | |
| New Zealand | 512 | ▽ | |
| Sweden | 509 | ▽ | |
| Italy | 501 | ▽ | |
| Ukraine | 501 | ▽ | |
| Norway | 494 | ▽ | |
| Kazakhstan | 490 | ▽ | |
| Turkey | 483 | ▽ | |
| Iran, Islamic Rep. of | 474 | ▽ | |
| Romania | 465 | ▽ | |
| United Arab Emirates | 465 | ▽ | |
| Chile | 461 | ▽ | |
| Bahrain | 452 | ▽ | |
| Thailand | 451 | ▽ | |
| Jordan | 449 | ▽ | |
| Tunisia | 439 | ▽ | |
| Armenia | 437 | ▽ | |
| Saudi Arabia | 436 | ▽ | |
| Malaysia | 426 | ▽ | |
| Syrian Arab Republic | 426 | ▽ | |
| Palestinian Nat'l Auth. | 420 | ▽ | |
| Georgia4,5 | 420 | ▽ | |
| Oman | 420 | ▽ | |
| Qatar | 419 | ▽ | |
| Macedonia, Rep. of | 407 | ▽ | |
| Lebanon | 406 | ▽ | |
| Indonesia | 406 | ▽ | |
| Morocco | 376 | ▽ | |
| Ghana6 | 306 | ▽ | |
| Benchmarking education systems | |||
| Massachusetts-USA1,4 | 567 | △ | |
| Minnesota-USA4 | 553 | △ | |
| Alberta-CAN1 | 546 | △ | |
| Colorado-USA4 | 542 | △ | |
| Indiana-USA1,4 | 533 | ||
| Connecticut-USA1,4 | 532 | ||
| North Carolina-USA3,4 | 532 | ||
| Florida-USA1,4 | 530 | ||
| Ontario-CAN1 | 521 | ||
| Quebec-CAN | 520 | ||
| California-USA1,4 | 499 | ▽ | |
| Alabama-USA4 | 485 | ▽ | |
| Dubai-UAE | 485 | ▽ | |
| Abu Dhabi-UAE | 461 | ▽ | |
| △ Average score is higher than U.S. average score. | |||
| ▽ Average score is lower than U.S. average score. | |||
I have no idea how representative the samples are, or how hard the students felt like trying.
These things are a lot of work to set up. Think of how hard it would be to coordinate all over the world in all these different languages. Then try to think about all the things that could go wrong if you were in charge. It's pretty daunting.
Looking at all 53 education systems that participated in PIRLS at grade 4 (i.e., both countries and other education systems), the United States was among the top 13 education systems in average reading scores. The five education systems that had higher average scores were Hong Kong-CHN, FloridaUSA, the Russian Federation, Finland, and Singapore. Seven education systems, Northern Ireland-GBR, Denmark, Croatia, Chinese Taipei-CHN, Ontario-CAN, Ireland, and England-GBR, had average scores not measurably different from the U.S. average score. The United States had higher average reading scores than 40 education systems.
| Education system | Overall reading average scale score | ||||||
| PIRLS scale average | 500 | ||||||
| Hong Kong-CHN1 | 571 | ||||||
| Russian Federation | 568 | ||||||
| Finland | 568 | ||||||
| Singapore2 | 567 | ||||||
| Northern Ireland-GBR3 | 558 | ||||||
| United States2 | 556 | ||||||
| Denmark2 | 554 | ||||||
| Croatia2 | 553 | ||||||
| Chinese Taipei-CHN | 553 | ||||||
| Ireland | 552 | ||||||
| England-GBR3 | 552 | ||||||
| Canada2 | 548 | ||||||
| Netherlands3 | 546 | ||||||
| Czech Republic | 545 | ||||||
| Sweden | 542 | ||||||
| Italy | 541 | ||||||
| Germany | 541 | ||||||
| Israel1 | 541 | ||||||
| Portugal | 541 | ||||||
| Hungary | 539 | ||||||
| Slovak Republic | 535 | ||||||
| Bulgaria | 532 | ||||||
| New Zealand | 531 | ||||||
| Slovenia | 530 | ||||||
| Austria | 529 | ||||||
| Lithuania2,4 | 528 | ||||||
| Australia | 527 | ||||||
| Poland | 526 |
| France | 520 | ||||||
| Spain | 513 | ||||||
| Norway5 | 507 | ||||||
| Belgium (French)-BEL2,3 | 506 | ||||||
| Romania | 502 | ||||||
| Georgia4,6 | 488 | ||||||
| Malta | 477 | ||||||
| Trinidad and Tobago | 471 | ||||||
| Azerbaijan2,6 | 462 | ||||||
| Iran, Islamic Rep. of | 457 | ||||||
| Colombia | 448 | ||||||
| United Arab Emirates | 439 | ||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 430 | ||||||
| Indonesia | 428 | ||||||
| Qatar2 | 425 | ||||||
| Oman7 | 391 | ||||||
| Morocco8 | 310 | ||||||
| Benchmarking education systems | |||||||
| Florida-USA1,4 | 569 | ||||||
| Ontario-CAN2 | 552 | ||||||
| Alberta-CAN2 | 548 | ||||||
| Quebec-CAN | 538 | ||||||
| Andalusia-ESP | 515 | ||||||
| Dubai-UAE | 476 | ||||||
| Maltese-MLT | 457 | ||||||
| Dhabi-UAE | 424 | ||||||

