An Investigation of Mathematics Education in the United States and Asian Countries: Comparing and Contrasting Teaching Strategies and Practices

In the subject of mathematics, students in the United States score below their counterparts in other nations. Namely, students in Asian countries consistently outscore students in the United States. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provides scores for mathematics and science achievement for fourth and eighth grade students. Data for the TIMSS study has been collected in 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011. Most recently, in 2011, data was collected for fourth grade students in 57 countries and other education systems and eighth grade students in 56 countries and other education systems. The scale average for the TIMSS study is set at 500. According to TIMSS (2011) fourth grade data, eight education systems had average scores higher than the United States. Among these eight education systems are: Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei, and Japan. Similarly, eighth grade U.S. students scored lower than eleven education systems. Again, these systems include: Korea, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, and Japan. Previous TIMSS data also supports the superior performance of Asian students.