A Look at the Second International Mathematics Study Results in the U.S.A. and Japan

Abstract

Japanese results from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) for first-year middle school and third-year high school students appeared in Septemher 1981 under the title Chuugakkoo-Kookoo no Suugaku no Seiseki (Mathematics Achievement of Middle and High School Students). United States' results for SIMS for the eighth and twelfth graders appeared, respectively, in the April 1985 editions of the Arithmetic Teacher and Mathematics Teacher (McKnight and Travers 1985a, 1985b). More detailed results were available in a report entitled Second International Mathematics Study Summary Report for the United States of January 1985. Given the current state of thinking and interest on both sides of the Pacific in mathematics achievement, a look at some of the results for Japan in comparison with those of the United States is very timely.