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TIMSS

Scientific Evidence that Men and Women are Designed Differently

Less than 5% of American 12th graders scored higher than 515 in TIMSS physics, compared to 75% of Norwegians who did, and 5% of Norwegians, Swedes, Russians, and Germans who scored higher than 725.  The number of Americans who scored as high as 725 is trivial compared to the fact that 99.99% of us scored lower than 550.  If these dismal scores are representative of all 300 million Americans, and there's little reason to believe they aren't, then less than 30,000 have an understanding of physics which even begins to approach the AVERAGE understanding of 4.4 million Norwegians, 8 million Swedes, 82 million Germans, and 162 million Russians.  In other words, in just those four countries, there are 128.2 million people who understand physics better than the top 30,000 here, which is 4,273 Europeans for each one American.

Scoring 461 Not Easily Explained

Our unbelievably low 12th grade TIMSS Math score of 461 is almost too low to fathom or explain, which may be one reason our educators appear to have effectively shut it out of their minds.  Cognitive dissonance is difficult to deal with. We can't just presume that the 71% of our students who're Whites scored in the range of Switzerland (538), the 13% who're Hispanics scored in the range of Italy (477), the 3% who're Asians scored in the range of the Netherlands (579), because that would leave a *negative* score for the 13% who're Blacks:

538 x .71 + 477 x .13 + 579 x .03 + .13X = 461

382 + 62 + 17.4 = 461 - .13X, X = -0.4/.13 = -3

Score for American Whites Similar to Italy

A worst case scenario, where American Whites scored in the range of Italy (490), Hispanics in the range of South Africa (356), and Asians in the range of American Whites (490), would leave blacks with a score of 400.  But since this score is higher than that for the presumed score of Hispanics, and since American Hispanics score considerably higher than American Blacks in all other standardized tests, this is just not a possible scenario:

490 x .71 + 356 x .13 + 490 x .03 + .13X = 461

348 + 46.3 + 14.7 + .13X = 461

X = 52/.13 = 400

Score for American Whites Similar to France

An even less likely scenario is that American Whites scored in the range of France (525), Hispanics in a range between Italy and South Africa (436), Asians at least as high as the Netherlands (559), leaving blacks with a score of 111.5.  This is an impossible score because just guessing on the test would yield a score anywhere from 300-427:

525 x .71 + 436 x .13 + 559 x .03 + .13X = 461

373 + 56.7 + 16.8 + .13X = 461

X = 14.5/.13 = 111.5

The Religion Gap

South Africa's score of 356 is a composite of the 9.1% of the population who are Whites, who are mostly descendants of the Netherlands (who scored 560), and the other 90.9% of the population who're either Blacks or Coloreds, who had to have scored an average of 336.  We have no evidence that the 13% of Americans who are Blacks score much lower or much higher than this.  The Catholic Church claims as members 25% of the American population, of whom 13% are Hispanics and 12% are Whites. When the 2% who are jews and the 3% who are Asians are removed, this leaves 57% who are White Protestants who by all rights should have scored as high as their White brethren in Sweden, or 552.  If we assume that Asians scored in the same range, and that Hispanics and jews scored 64 points higher than Blacks, similar to the difference between Hispanics and Blacks in SAT Math, then in order for us to have scored a mere 461, White Catholics would have had to have scored 217.7, an impossibly low score indeed:

336 x 13% + 400 x 13% + 552 x 3% + 12% x X + 57% x 552 + 2% x 400 = 461

43.68 + 52 + 16.56 + .12X + 314.64 + 8 = 461

X = 217.7

French Scenario

A worst case scenario would be that White Protestants scored in the range of their brethren in Australia and France and New Zealand, or 522, that Asians scored no higher than Whites (contrary to most standardized tests) of 522, and that jews, Indians, and Hispanics scored only 40 points higher than Blacks, leaving White Catholics with a score of 396.

336 x 13% + 376 x 13% + 528 x 3% + 12% x X + 57% x 522 + 2% x 376 = 461

43.68 + 48.88 + 15.84 + .12X + 297.54 + 7.52 = 461

X = 396.2

This Religion Gap of 159 TIMSS Math points between White Protestants and White Catholics is beginning to approach the phenomenon revealed by the 220-301 SAT Math point gap between Whites in mostly Protestant states and Whites in mostly Catholic states, suggesting we are getting closer to explaining our amazingly low TIMSS Math Score of 461!

Swede Scenario

Is it impossible that scores for White Protestants would be an average of their Protestant brethren in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, or 551, that Asians scored no higher than Whites (contrary to most standardized tests) at 551, and that jews, Indians and Hispanics scored only 40 points higher than Blacks, leaving White Catholics with a score of only 253?  This suggests that Catholic Whites score 83 points lower than Blacks, which explains much about their principles and behavior, particularly their claims about racial equality.

336 x 13% + 376 x 13% + 551 x 3% + 12% x X + 57% x 551 + 2% x 376 = 461

43.68 + 48.88 + 16.53 + .12X + 314.07 + 7.52 = 461

X = 252.7

Since this Religion Gap of 298 TIMSS Math points between White Protestants and White Catholics is so similar to  the 220-301 SAT Math point gap between White Protestants and White Catholics, this would appear to be the most likely explanation for our amazingly low TIMSS Math Score of 461!  Furthermore, it's possible that Asians, Hispanics, and even Blacks, score HIGHER than this, which would INCREASE the Catholic/Protestant gap even further@!

DE-EDUCATION: OUR TWELFTH GRADE GIRLS SCORE 76 POINTS LOWER THAN OUR EIGHTH GRADE BOYS

Because media, educators, bureaucrats, politicians, and other powers that be studiously ignore the sad state of our high schools, as evidenced by SAT, TIMSS, NAEP, etc., and instead focus only on 8th grade performance, less than 7% of Americans are aware of just how low we scored in TIMSS at the 12th grade level.  Comparing 8th grade scores understates the problem because  45 countries who participated in this study of more than half a million students around the world proved that the last four years of a student's education is the most important part, and 8th grade scores obviously miss that part. Of 45 countries whose 12th graders participated in TIMSS Math, the boys in 35 of those countries scored higher than the 8th grade math score, and those in 7 countries scored lower.  In the US, 12th grade boys scored 56 points lower and 12th grade girls scored 104 points lower.  Where Swiss 8th graders scored 46 points or about one standard deviation higher than ours in math, their 12th grade boys scored 102 points or two standard deviations higher than our boys and 133 points or almost three standard deviations higher than our girls.

How shocked they all would be if they realized that our 12th grade girls scored DEAD LAST in physics, 130 points or almost three standard deviations lower than girls in Norway and almost 200 points or four standard deviations lower than boys in Norway, simply because the scores of American girls from the 8th to 12th grade dropped even faster than our boys, whose scores dropped even more than that for most girls. Conversely, relative to their 8th grade scores, 12th grade boys in Cyprus scored 89 points higher, in Norway scored 84 points higher, and in Sweden scored 66 points higher.

Whatever their high schools are doing that ours aren't we'd better start doing QUICKLY or it won't be long before we're a dark smudge on the "global economy". 

12th grade boys in the US scored a standard deviation lower than 8th grade US boys, whereas 12th grade boys in Cyprus, Norway, and Sweden scored a standard deviation higher than their 8th grade boys.

12th grade girls in the US scored TWO standard deviations lower than 8th grade US girls, whereas 12th grade girls in Cyprus, Greece, and Norway scored higher than their 8th grade girls.

EIGHTH VERSUS TWELFTH GRADE

EVERY nation which participated in this part of TIMSS, which is mostly European nations (and not Asian nations like Korea, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan who blew the pants off our 8th graders) scored higher, MUCH higher, than us. 

The US is one of the only countries whose 8th and 12th grade boys who participated in TIMSS who experienced such a dramatic drop in scores from 8th to 12th grade.  Where our eighth grade boys scored only 3 points lower than Norway's (502 vs. 505), our twelfth grade boys scored 143 points lower (446 vs. 589, for a RELATIVE decrease of 140 points),   Where our eighth grade boys scored 30 points HIGHER than Cyprus (502 vs. 472), our 12th grade boys scored 115 points lower (446 vs 561) for a 145 point swing.   Latvian boys were 6 points lower at eighth grade but 63 points higher at twelfth grade for a 69 point swing, Denmark 9 points higher at the 8th grade and 94 points higher at the 12 grade for an 85 point swing, Sweden 18 points higher, then 140 points higher for a 122 point swing, Greece 12 points lower then 79 points higher for a 91 point swing, Russia 33 points higher then 117 points higher for a 150 point swing. 

It should be no comfort to us that the amount by which scores decreased for boys from 8th and 12th grade in Austria, the Czech Republic, and France is even greater than the amount by which ours decreased--we should find out why and avoid this pitfall, AT ALL COSTS.  The fact that these countries are predominately Catholic countries (France 88%, Austria 74%, and the Czech Republic 27-60%) suggests that Catholocism's effort to impose "sex equality" on boys IS NOT JUST A HUGE WASTE OF TIME--IT'S INCREDIBLY DESTRUCTIVE!

It doesn't help girls AT ALL--in Austria the 8 point gap between boys and girls increased by 52 points to 60, in the Czech Republic the 11 point gap increased by 63 points to 74, and in France the 6 point gap increased by 27 points to 33.

TWELFTH GRADE TIMSS SCORES

The only reason the gap between American boys and girls increased ten fold, from 5 points in 8th grade to 53 points in the 12th grade [a 9 IQ point gender gap] is that the scores of girls decreased more than the score of boys (104 vs. 56).  By some estimates, the gender gap at the 8th grade was already a standard deviation, and this drop in scores between 8th and 12th grade increased the gender gap to two standard deviations in the US and almost three standard deviations in Slovenia, Sweden, Cyprus, and Switzerland.

• Final report on the 12th grade TIMSS study.

• US ranked DEAD LAST in more 12th grade TIMSS subjects in 1995 than any other nation.

• Graphic tour of negative intelligence.

• How "liberals" are "educated".

• Highlighting the social pathology of the RCC and it's role in destroying education.

• The US scored 19th out of 21 nations in general math.

• Compared to if they had just guessed, American girls scored:

  • 3% lower on Physics Item H09

  • 2% lower on Mechanics Item H04

  • 3% lower on Numbers & Equations Item K02

  • 1% lower on Geometry Item K08

  • 3% higher on Geometry Item K09

  • 16% lower on Geometry Item K10

  • less than 1% on Numbers & Equations Item K15

  • 5% lower on Probability & Statistics Item L10

• NEWS FLASH:  you thought it couldn't get worse?  It just DID!

• US has one of the lowest high school graduation rates amongst the TIMSS participants.

• Both our 9 year olds and our 13 year olds ranked dead last in IAEP math in 1991.

• Our 13 year olds ranked second to last in IAEP science in 1991.

• We spent more for education than any other country on this table.

• While most countries' 12th graders scored higher than their 4th graders, our 12th graders scored lower than our 4th graders.

• TIMSS questions demonstrated a 33% difference between the sexes in problem solving.

• Zero percent of American 12th grade girls solved simple math problems.

• Zero percent of American 12th grade girls solved simple physics problems.

• TIMSS results are consistent with the SAT scores, ACT scores, NAEP scores, IAEP scores, and GRE Scores.

• "By fifth grade, the best average school score for Minneapolis did not beat the worst Japanese average school score."

• American blacks scored lower than Mozambique and South Africa.

• R. C. Hoiles: 21 reasons to ban public education.

• John Leo: discrimination against boys.

• Julie Foster: end public education.

• John Taylor Gatto on public schools.

• Home schooled 8th graders outscored public schooled 12th graders.

• Critique of TIMSS.

• TIMSS is consistent with other physical, emotional, and intellectual differences between the sexes.

• The truth behind the cover-up of the public school disgrace, by Joseph Farah.

• TIMSS is consistent with differences of opinions between the sexes.

• Ray Moore: a case for abandoning government schools.

• News flash:  the US is first--in punishing children for inappropriate sexual behavior.

• Compared to an 1895 8th grade exam.

• A proposal.

In 8th grade TIMSS physics, the girls in all nations demonstrated they had been taught physics by scoring only slightly lower than the boys in those nations, except in Cyprus, Canada, and Australia where girls scored 3 points higher.  Czech students scored the highest, demonstrating an IQ range of 104, and boys in Cyprus scored the lowest, an IQ range of 83. 

But by the 12th grade, this all changed, dramatically.  Some of the lowest scoring 8th grade boys, like those in Norway, scored the highest in the 12th grade, while some of the highest scoring 8th grade girls, like Czech girls, scored almost last by the 12th grade.  While US boys and girls scored low in the 8th grade, they scored DEAD LAST by the 12th grade. While the IQ gap between boys in Norway and girls in the US in the 8th grade was only 2 points, it was 35 points by the 12th grade.  While the relative IQs of boys in Cyprus increased 25 IQ points, boys in Norway increased 22 IQ points, Sweden increased 18 IQ points, Greece 14 IQ points, Denmark 12 IQ points, Slovenia 11 IQ points, Russia and Latvia 10 IQ points, Germany 7 IQ points, Australia 6 IQ points, and in Canada by 1 IQ point, IQs for boys in the US decreased 3 IQ points. And where the relative IQs of girls in Norway and Cyprus increased 12 points, and in Greece increased 10 points, IQs for girls in the US decreased 11 points. 

All of this resulted in the 1 IQ point average gender gap in the 8th grade increasing to 11 IQ points by the 12th grade.  By the 12th grade, the largest gender gap, 16 IQ points, was in Slovenia, and the smallest, 6 IQ points, was in France.  The greatest increase in the gender gap of 14 IQ points was in Switzerland and Slovenia, and the smallest increase of 4 IQ points was in Greece.  The IQ of 12th grade girls in Norway was 13 IQ points higher than boys in the US, 23 IQ points higher than girls in the US, and 12 IQ points lower than boys in Norway.

Generally, a 10 point gap in IQ is a standard deviation.  The boys in all the nations who participated in TIMSS except France, Latvia, and Greece scored more than a standard deviation higher than the girls of each respective nation, and boys in Switzerland and Slovenia scored almost two standard deviations higher.  The almost gender equality between 8th grade boys and girls in the US turned into more than a standard deviation difference by the 12th grade, 53 TIMSS points or 11 IQ points.

correlating IQ and TIMSS

When this TIMSS data is correlated with Professor Lynn's IQ of Nations, r-squared is .57, showing a close relationship between this historic record of intelligence by nation and the most advanced and comprehensive measure of intelligence of half a million students around the world we've ever witnessed.  Making the assumption that this TIMSS data is more accurate or more up to date or a better assessment of IQ or more representative of the type of student demanded by industry than his data might not be precisely correct, but it enables us to create a template for measuring worldwide IQ by sex using TIMSS scores as a guide.

Based on this test, and this test alone, the greatest decreases required to get an r-squared of almost 1.0 are 9 points for Italy and Canada, 8 points for the US, and 6 points for Germany and Czech Republic.  The greatest increases are 7 points for Denmark, and 5 points for the Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, and Slovenia.

Is this adjustment justified? In this day and age of electronics and semiconductors, and now semiconductors in every product all the way from cars to watches, de-emphasizing physics education [or in the case of the US, apparently actually sabotaging it] ought to be considered an economic crime, if not an outright criminal act.  Our extremely poor performance in the 8th grade in the first place, coupled with a DROP in scores from 8th grade to 12th grade that few other countries experienced, coupled with the social pathology brought on by multiculturalism, coupled with our having the undisturbed highest rates of divorce, homicide, violent crime, incarceration, and debt the industrialized world has ever seen, it would be amazing if Professor Lynn's estimate of an IQ of 98 for the US isn't 20 points lower rather than just 8 points lower.

Since the exact same thing is happening to the WHITE RACE in Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, Russia, and Lithuania, the 9, 6, 6, 4, and 5 point drops, respectively, might actually reflect REALITY.  iow, it might actually be true that Professor Lynn is being kind, or is using data from a time BEFORE our multiculturalism disaster, and that TIMSS IS more accurate now.

The 5 and 9 point adjustments for Hungary and Italy, respectively, ARE justified, because multiculturalism had already ruined both countries centuries ago and neither does well in any of the other tests (even in PISA, a test of 15 year olds, both scored much lower than the average, 491 and 462 respectively).  There really isn't a single international test which supports an IQ of 102 for Italy, so if there's any "error" in any of Professor Lynn's data [and my bet is that there's not], then this might be it.

Now we can use this chart to estimate the IQ and thus the IQ gap between 12th grade boys and girls in different countries in a way that our so-called "educators" REFUSE to do (thus causing the complete collapse of God's Orderly Arrangement).  After almost five decades of "affirmative action" in this putative Christian nation, what have we got?  The anchor man (or in this case, the anchor "person") on these tests is the 12th grade American girl at 393, and the rising star is the 12 grade affirmative-action-free Norwegian boy at 589, almost 200 points higher, thanks mostly to the fact that he WAS educated in high school and DID score 84 points higher than Norwegian 8th grade boys (versus our 56 point DROP for boys from 8th to 12th grade).  AND Norwegian girls increased their score from 8th to 12th grade while ours DECREASED them by 104 points.

If our chart is correct, then this 196 TIMSS point gap represents a 35 point gap in IQ, a real monument to the success of multiculturalism.

From that chart, we can now create the following table and get a very accurate representation of IQ from a PHYSICS perspective.  If physics is an important skill to an industrialized nation (which of course it MUST be), then this "gender gap in IQ" within each country of 6 to 16 IQ points, which averages 10.75 points, and which is present in EVERY country, MUST be important: 

And finally we have the following chart which demonstrates very clearly where the winners and losers are.  You will not hear this from the "mainstream media": "Pure race Norwegian girls score 77 points higher than our multicuturalized boys".  Of course you also won't hear: "American boys down 56 points, Norwegian boys up 84 points", nor will you hear: "American girls down 104 points, Cypriot girls up 21 points".

Is it true?  From this perspective, it absolutely positively is true.  Is it important?  It's about a billion times more important than what happened to some suicide bomber who killed an alien enemy foreign jew 12,000 miles away, half a century ago

The Condition of Education 1997, Supplemental Table 20-1

Table 20-1: Average mathematics proficiency scores of eighth-grade students, by country and sex: 1995

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                         Average score                         Percentile distribution
                                  ---------------------------        ---------------------------------------------
Country                            Total      Boys     Girls          5th      25th      50th      75th      95th
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Singapore                            643       642       645          499       584       642       704       792
Korea                                607       615       598          418       540       609       682       786
Japan                                605       609       600          435       536       608       676       771
Hong Kong                            588       597       577          415       526       595       659       742
Belgium (Fl)\1\                      565       563       567          416       502       566       631       710
Czech Republic                       564       569       558          423       496       558       633       725
Slovak Republic                      547       549       545          401       483       543       612       700
Switzerland\2\                       545       548       543          401       485       549       607       685
Netherlands\3\                       541       545       536          397       477       543       604       688
Slovenia\3\                          541       545       537          404       477       535       604       690
Bulgaria\3\                          540        —         —           378       460       530       621       728
Austria\3\                           539       544       536          393       474       537       608       693
France                               538       542       536          415       484       534       591       666
Hungary                              537       537       537          391       471       534       602       693
Russian Federation                   535       535       536          388       471       536       600       687
Australia\3\                         530       527       532          372       460       529       600       690
Canada                               527       526       530          389       468       527       587       670
Ireland                              527       535       520          381       462       526       594       681
Belgium (Fr)\3\                      526       530       524          385       467       532       587       658
Israel\3\                            522       539       509          371       459       523       586       672
Thailand\3\                          522       517       526          388       462       518       580       669
Sweden                               519       520       518          384       460       515       579       661
Germany\1\,\2\,\3\                   509       512       509          368       448       506       572       661
New Zealand                          508       512       503          366       443       503       570       663
England\1\,\2\                       506       508       504          361       443       501       570       665
Norway                               503       505       501          372       445       499       560       649
Denmark\3\                           502       511       494          369       443       500       561       641
United States\2\                     500       502       497          356       435       494       563       653
Scotland\3\                          498       506       490          364       436       493       559       649
Latvia (LSS)\2\                      493       496       491          375       435       487       550       638
Iceland                              487       488       486          365       435       481       540       615
Spain                                487       492       483          376       436       481       536       616
Greece\3\                            484       490       478          347       422       478       546       633
Romania\3\                           482       483       480          343       418       476       544       635
Lithuania\2\                         477       477       478          348       422       473       533       616
Cyprus                               474       472       475          333       412       469       535       621
Portugal                             454       460       449          357       411       449       495       569
Iran, Islamic Rep.                   428       434       421          336       388       424       466       535
Kuwait\3\                            392        —         —           302       355       389       427       493
Colombia\3\                          385       386       384          292       343       379       421       496
South Africa\3\                      354       360       349          259       313       347       386       484
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------         
            

In the following 12 subjects, no country scored lower than American 12th Grade Girls who scored:

1. 22 points lower than American boys and 90 points lower than Greek girls in Numbers & Equations.

2. 41 points lower than American boys and 123 points lower than Cypriot girls in Calculus.

3. 31 points lower than American boys and 121 points lower than French girls in Geometry.

4. 34 points lower than American boys and 139 points lower than Norwegian girls in Physics.

5. 53 points lower than American boys and 130 points lower than Norwegian girls in Mechanics.

6. 21 points lower than American boys and 152 points lower than Swedish girls in Electricity & Magnetism.

7. 6 points lower than American boys and 37 points lower than Norwegian girls in Heat.

8. 18 points lower than American boys and 86 points lower than Swedish girls in Wave Phenomena.

9. 20 points lower than American boys and 92 points lower than Swedish girls in Modern Physics.

10. 31 points lower than American boys and 117 points lower than French girls in Advanced Math.

11. 23 points lower than American boys and 65 points lower than Swedish girls in General Science.

12. 11 points lower than American boys and 77 points lower than Dutch girls in General Math.

Zero percent of American 12th grade girls correctly solved TIMSS math problems.

Zero percent of American 12th grade girls correctly solved TIMSS physics problems.

Among American students on other standardized tests:

• In the quantitative section of the Graduate Record Exam:

  • Mexican boys score 3 points higher than White girls.

  • Mexican boys score 59 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • The average boys' score is 72 points higher than average girls' score.

  • Foreign boys score 171 points higher than American girls.

  • Asian boys score 234 points higher than black girls.

  • Boys who major in engineering score 251 points higher than girls who major in education.

• In the verbal section of the Graduate Record Exam:

  • Asian boys score 5 points higher than White girls.

  • Mexican boys score 23 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • Boys who major in humanities score 114 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • White boys score 124 points higher than black girls.

• In the analytical section of the Graduate Record Exam:

  • Mexican boys score 8 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • Indian boys score 15 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • Hispanic boys score 27 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • Asian boys score 79 points higher than girls who major in education.

  • White boys score 99 points higher than girls who major in education.

• Boys score 46 points higher than girls in SAT math.

• Boys score 2 points higher than girls in ACT math.

• Boys score 5 points higher than girls in NAEP math.

• Boys score 53 points higher than girls in TIMSS physics.

• Boys score 41 points higher than girls in TIMSS calculus.

• Swiss boys score 47 points higher than Swiss girls in TIMSS calculus.

• Boys score 17 points higher than girls in IAEP math.

• Men college graduates earn 66% more than women college graduates.

• Median weekly earnings of men exceed those for women by 35%.

• Men outperform women in Olympic Platform Diving by 46%.

• Men outperform women in Olympic 100 Meter Freestyle by 10%.

• Men outperform women in Olympic Pole Vaulting by infinity.

• Men outperform women in Olympic Shot Put by 31%.

• Men outperform women in Olympic 1500 Meter Run by 9%.

• Men outperform women in Olympic Springboard Diving by 20%.

• Men outperform women as racing champions by infinity.

• Men outperform women as boxing champions by infinity.

• Men outperform women chess champions by infinity.

• Men outperform women as baseball champions by infinity.

• Men outperform women as money winners in golf by 118%.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Peace Prize winners by infinity.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Prize in Physics winners by 76X.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners by 45X.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Prize in Medicine winners by 25X.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Prize in Literature winners by 13X.

• Men outperform women as Nobel Prize in Economic Science winners by infinity.

7% of American 12th grade girls vs. 40% of boys correctly answered Item G13:

A car moving at constant speed with a siren sounding comes towards you and then passes by.  Describe how the frequency of the sound you hear changes.

This 33% difference between boys and girls in this credible, objective, worldwide study proved that American 12th grade girls have some of the poorest average problem solving skills in the world.

The standard deviation for international TIMSS scores was 100 points, but within each country it was around 40 points as it was in Switzerland and Taiwan. Across 14 different math and physics topics, the gender gap as measured in standard deviations was an average of 0.6 in the US, 1.0 internationally, and 1.4 in Switzerland.  It's not bad for a country for boys to outperform girls--in Switzerland, boys outperformed girls by two standard deviations in mechanics, but still Swiss girls scored 444 compared to 446 for our boys.

If you ignore the standings of all of the other countries, then of course it's meaningless to make the above comparisons. But when you include that US 8th graders ranked 28th out of 41 nations in all math subjects overall, and when you include that our 12th graders ranked 19th out of 21 nations in general math, then you can make a valid, meaningful, revealing comparison.

11 of the countries which scored higher than us in the 8th grade didn't even participate in 12th grade TIMSS. Singapore, Japan and Korea all scored more than 100 points higher at the 8th grade level but they didn't participate in 12th grade TIMSS. If those 11 countries had participated in 12th grade TIMSS, it is almost certain that the US would have then scored 30th out of 32 nations.

The only two countries which scored lower than us in 12th grade level general math were Cyprus and South Africa. But South Africa didn't participate in all of the 12th grade TIMSS subjects, and Cyprus did amazingly well in a number of other subject areas, which put us dead last in 17 of 34 subject areas. 9 of the 13 countries which scored lower than us at the 8th grade level also didn't participate in the 12th grade tests, but 3 of the 4 remaining countries scored much higher in some subjects than we did. Lithuania scored 23 points lower than us at the 8th grade level, but their 12th graders scored 100 points higher in geomety, Cyprus scored 26 points lower at the 8th grade level, but their 12th graders scored 99 points higher in calculus, and Iceland scored 13 points lower than us at the 8th grade level, but their 12th graders scored 73 points higher in general math.

How could this have happened? How could we spend almost twice as much as a percent of GDP than countries like Japan and Korea, where they score at the top of the curve and we score consistently at the bottom?

It's not certain that our 12th graders are less competent in math than our 8th graders. But it is guaranteed that on a relative scale our 12th graders are being grossly shortchanged, because far too many other countries have proven scientifically that they know how to educate high schoolers where we don't. This is such a huge swing that it's hard to imagine that something sinister isn't going on. Maybe it's that the students who don't make it through high school to the 12th grade (which is almost a THIRD of our 18 year olds) are the ones who would have scored the highest on the 12th grade TIMSS, and thus raised our scores to at least a ranking similar to that at the 8th grade. Maybe it's widespread prescription of drugs like Ritalin and Valium which dumbs down our students. Maybe it's steroids in the beef or estrogen in the water. Maybe it's TV programming (not just TV, but the lack of quality of our TV programming).

Or maybe it's just plain flat out incompetent teachers. We need to test them asap so that we KNOW for sure.

THIS IS A FEMINIST PH.D'S BRAIN ON DRUGS

THIS IS THE REAL WORLD:

General Discussion, Third International Math & Science Study

Copyright @ 2007 by Fathers' Manifesto & Christian Party