Summary

Introduction

This paper addresses the question: 'Why do some TIMSS countries consistently rank highly in mathematics achievement OR what have they done to improve achievement?'It focuses on countries which are either consistently high performers in mathematics or have shown great improvements over time. Countries examined are England, Hong Kong SAR, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Republic of Korea, Lithuania, Chinese Taipei, the Netherlands, and Finland. The paper covers the following topics:

• Achievement
• Changes over time at a system level
• Curriculum
• Test item match with the country's curriculum
• Percentage of students taught topics in the TIMSS framework
• Teacher training regulations and expectations
• Professional learning and development
• Teacher confidence and preparation to teach
• Teaching and learning activities
• Starting age and pre-primary education
• Student confidence

The topics have been chosen as ones where New Zealand 'stands out' in the international tables as being different from many other countries or are areas where the Ministry of Education can influence.