Immigrant Students in TIMSS

Abstract

In this chapter, the trends in percentages and the achievement trends in both mathematics and science for immigrant students are analyzed using data from the 1995, 2003, and 2007 cycles of TIMSS. The aim is to gain more insights as a basis for more in-depth analysis of TIMSS 2007 data. First, trends in percentages of first-generation immigrant students in grade eight and then in grade four are analyzed, followed by an analysis of trends of second-generation immigrant students in grade eight. Then, achievement differences between immigrant and native students will be explored. The data reveal that overall, immigrant students – especially first-generation immigrant students – are outperformed, and increasingly so, by native students in both mathematics and science. The first-generation immigrant population has increased between 1995 and 2007 in a large number of countries.