Eighth-grade science around the globe.

Eighth-grade science around the globe. The National Center for Education Statistics The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), as part of the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences (IES), collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States; conducts studies recently released results from its 1999 video study of eigth-grade science lessons, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is an international assessment of the mathematics and science knowledge of fourth- and eighth-grade students around the world. . The report analyzes and compares U.S. instruction to the approaches used in four high-achieving countries: Australia, Japan, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic Czech Republic,Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. . The goal is to help educators identify factors that could enhance student learning and achievement. Each nation relied on a distinct general approach, and the report finds key commonalities and differences among classrooms. According to according toprep.1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians.2. In keeping with: according to instructions.3. the report, science instruction in the four high-achieving countries differs from the U.S. in two ways: * International eigth-grade lessons focused on high content standards and expectations for student learning. * Science lessons followed a common, content-focused instructional approach vs. a variety of pedagogical ped��a��gog��ic? also ped��a��gog��i��caladj.1. Of, relating to, or characteristic of pedagogy.2. Characterized by pedantic formality: a haughty, pedagogic manner. approaches and content. On the flip side Flip sideIn the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). , there are common denominators in science instruction among all five nations. For example: * 95 percent of lessons spent at least some time developing new science content. * Practical activities such as demonstrations or model building occurred in at least 72 percent of lessons across all five countries. * Students participated in discussions in 81 percent of lessons with whole class interactions. * Student-generated research questions and student-designed procedures occurred in less than 10 percent of lessons.