(Guest Post by Matthew Ladner)
TIMS released 2011 results today in a variety of subjects. This time a handful of states were brave enough to volunteer for a pullout of their results. Here are the results on 4th grade reading:
Here are the pullouts:
You got it: Florida students notched the second highest score in the world. Even above (gasp!) Finland.
Late for a meeting. More later, but for now:
Jay P. Greene's Blog 
If I am reading this right, I think it says that the average 6th grader in FL is reading at a higher level than the average student in the US. Is that right? Is that consistent with 4th grade and 8th grade NAEP scores?
There are a bunch of different tests at different grade levels, but these are 4th grade reading scores. I added a link to the original source in the post.
This is interesting stuff. Especially when you consider Finland’s demographics. Almost all students in Finland are native born.
http://super-economy.blogspot.com/2010/12/amazing-truth-about-pisa-scores-usa.html
In grade 4 TIMSS Math Finland barely outscored the USA and same for 8th grade Math.
Link to 2011 TIMSS
http://timss.bc.edu/timss2011/international-results-mathematics.html
OK in grade 4 TIMSS reading Florida scored 13 points above USA …. but in Math Florida is not nearly as successful.
TIMSS Grade 4 Math:
Grade 4:
Singapore 606
Korea, Rep. of 605
Hong Kong SAR 602
Chinese Taipei 591
Japan 585
Northern Ireland 562 => North Carolina 554
Belgium (Flemish) 549
Finland 545 ==> Florida 545 +4 above USA
England 542
Russian Federation 542
United States 541 == 65 points behind #1 Singapore
Netherlands 540
Grade 8 Math:
Grade 8:
Korea, Rep. of 613
Singapore 611
Chinese Taipei 609
Hong Kong SAR 586
Japan 570 ==> Massachusetts 561,
==> Minnesota 545
==> North Carolina 537
Russian Federation 539 ==> Indiana 522
==> Colorado 518
==> Connecticut 518
Israel 516
Finland 514
==> Florida 513 +4 above USA
United States 509 == 104 points behind #1 Korea
England 507
Hungary 505
Australia 505
Slovenia 505
Lithuania 502
==> California 493
==> Alabama 466
DD-
The United States has made a substantial amount of progress since the 1990s on PISA and we know from NAEP that Florida was well behind the national averages back in the 1990s. Ergo, above the (improved) national average is nothing at which to sneeze.
New Massachusetts slogan: Our college football teams are horrible, but we do beat Alabama in TIMMS by 195 points.
Bravo!
[…] In a perfect world, I’d take both Manning and Bennett. Winning Super Bowl XLVII would be exciting enough. Winning the Super Bowl of education reform — providing more choice, opportunity, accountability, and excellent learning opportunities — would be even better! But good luck to Florida as they seek to continue their successful track record. […]
[…] final note on international comparisons: Matt Ladner offered up a celebratory fist bump with the news that Florida 4th graders rank right among the world leaders of Hong Kong, Finland, […]