A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Contemporary Research in the United States, Germany, and Japan on Five Education Issues

Preface

To prepare for theThird International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), the U.S. Department of Education, through its National Center for Educational Statistics, funded this review of the current literature relating to the psychological and social processes involved in teaching and learning mathematics and science in the United States, Germany, and Japan.

TIMSS is a large collaborative project involving the participation of thousands of students in grades 3-4, 7-8, and 12, in 41 countries and their teachers. In 1996, students responded to tests of their knowledge about mathematics and science, and answered questions about various facets of their lives at school and at home that may have affected test scores. Teachers answered questions about their everyday practices and attitudes. To help increase understanding of the systems of education and cultural factors that may underlie differences in academic achievement, this review presents the results of previous studies that have been conducted in the United States, Germany, and Japan. The TIMSS case studies conducted in each of these countries are reported in separate publications.

Germany and Japan were chosen for comparison because their students have fared much more successfully in prior comparative studies of academic achievement than have students from the United States. Indeed, one of the most compelling questions facing American education today is why our students perform so poorly in mathematics and science in comparison with students from other industrialized countries. Looking at other countries may lead us to examine aspects of our own practices that might be improved.

Published sources present helpful descriptions of the school systems in the three countries; other reports augment this information by providing detailed accounts of everyday practices and experiences of students, parents, and teachers. The reviews of the literature were written by persons who were fluent in the language and had broad prior experience in the country whose literature they reviewed. Rather than attempt to cover the entire research literature from each country, the reviews were restricted to five topics considered to be central to educational achievement and of great interest to policymakers:

Obtaining copies of the material for inclusion in these reviews proved to be a difficult task. Gaining access to the American literature posed few problems, but acquiring copies of the relevant books and articles from Germany and Japan was much more difficult. The first task was to locate articles that were judged by colleagues, both American and foreign, as being among the most important to include. However, many of the most recent books and journals were not available in American bookstores or libraries; thus, it was necessary to obtain them directly from Germany and Japan. Without the cooperation of many foreign colleagues in helping us locate copies of the materials, up-to-date reviews would have been impossible.

In addition to the reviews, we have included glossaries and an extensive list of references. Whenever a German or Japanese word or phrase is used for the first time in the text, a translation is provided. If the term is used more than once, it is included in the glossary for easy reference. The reviewers were unable, of course, to discuss every article they read, but we have included a list of references to all of the literature the reviewers believed to be relevant or of potential interest to other readers.

We want to express our appreciation to the many individuals who helped us in preparing this volume, especially Cindy Andress, J. J. Abbott, Linda Bailey, Thomas Evans, and Margaret Mullins. We are also grateful to the many reviewers who gave us suggestions about material we should include and who made comments about the content of the reviews. The participation of our American, German, and Japanese colleagues was especially helpful. Finally, work on the volume was greatly aided by the facilities made available for the project at the Center for Human Growth and Development at the University of Michigan.

Harold W. Stevenson
Shin-Ying Lee
Roberta Nerison-Low

General Editors

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