This report is aimed at informing the work of teachers, school leaders, teacher educators, and curriculum developers in Ireland. It describes in detail the performance of Fourth Class (primary) and Second Year (post-primary) students on a range of mathematics and science topics and test items. In interpreting the data presented here from the TIMSS 2019 study (the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study), students’ performance is discussed with reference to relevant aspects of the Irish curricula for mathematics and science, and to international comparisons of student performance.
The findings presented here build on the initial national report on TIMSS 2019 (Perkins & Clerkin, 2020), which described student performance in mathematics and science in terms of average achievement, distributions of achievement among higher- and lower-achieving students, gender differences, benchmarks of performance (Low, Intermediate, High, or Advanced), and high-level
descriptions of performance on the TIMSS cognitive and content domains. This report expands on the latter aspect by providing a detailed examination of Fourth Class and Second Year students’ performance on the TIMSS content domains and, in particular, on their constituent subdomains and topic areas.
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Strengths and Weaknesses in Maths and Science at Fourth Class
Strengths and Weaknesses in Maths and Science at Second Year
