Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2027) Main Study International Questionnaire

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), within the U.S. Department of Education (ED), is an international assessment of fourth and eighth grade students’ achievement in mathematics and science. Since its inception in 1995, TIMSS has continued to assess students every 4 years (1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015, and 2019), with the next TIMSS assessment, TIMSS 2023, being the eighth iteration of the study. In TIMSS 2023, approximately 65 countries or education systems will participate. The United States will participate in TIMSS 2023 to continue to monitor the progress of its students compared to that of other nations and to provide data on factors that may influence student achievement. TIMSS is led by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), an international collective of research organizations and government agencies that create the frameworks used to develop the assessment, the survey instruments, and the study timeline. IEA decides and agrees upon a common set of standards, procedures, and timelines for collecting and reporting data, all of which must be followed by all participating countries. As a result, TIMSS is able to provide a reliable and comparable measure of student skills in participating countries. In the U.S., NCES conducts this study in collaboration with the IEA and a number of contractors to ensure proper implementation of the study and adoption of practices in adherence to the IEA’s standards. Participation in TIMSS is consistent with NCES’s mandate of acquiring and disseminating data on educational activities and student achievement in the United States compared with foreign nations [The Educational Sciences Reform Act of 2002 (ESRA 2002, 20 U.S.C. §9543)]. Previous requests associated with the TIMSS 2023 field test, which was conducted in March and April 2022, were approved by OMB between May 2021 and February 2022 (OMB# 1850-0695 v.16-19). Because TIMSS is a collaborative effort among many parties, the United States must adhere to the international schedule set forth by the IEA, including the availability of final field test and main study plans as well as draft and final questionnaires. In order to meet the international data collection schedule, to align with recruitment for other NCES studies (e.g., the National Assessment of Education Progress, NAEP), and for schools to put the TIMSS 2023 field test assessment on their Spring 2022 calendars, recruitment activities for the field test began in June of 2021. Recruitment activities for the main study began in January 2022, with the data collection activities currently scheduled to begin in March 2023. This package solicits 30 days of public comment and requests OMB approval for the final international version of the main study questionnaires. Adaptation activities to fit the questionnaire text into the U.S. education context are currently underway. The U.S. questionnaires for the main study will be submitted via non-substantive change request in January 2023.

The latest form for Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 2027) Main Study International Questionnaire expires 2026-06-30 and can be found here.