International Comparisons In Mathematics Education

A critical overview of the current debate and topical thinking on international comparative investigations in mathematics education. The contributors are all major figures in international comparisons in mathematics. The book highlights strengths and weaknesses in various systems worldwide, allowing teachers, researchers and academics to compare and contrast different approaches. A significant contribution to the international debate on standards in mathematics.

A critical overview of the current debate and topical thinking on international comparative investigations in mathematics education. The contributors are all major figures in international comparisons in mathematics. The book highlights strengths and weaknesses in various systems worldwide, allowing teachers, researchers and academics to compare and contrast different approaches. A significant contribution to the international debate on standards in mathematics.

Diane Shorrocks-Taylor School of Education, University of Leeds,UK In September 1998, a conference was held at the University of Leeds entitled ‘International comparisons of pupil performance: issues and policy’. It was arranged by two groups within the School of Education at the University, the newly formed Assessment and Evaluation Unit and the Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education. Thejoint interest in international comparisons of performance had itself arisen from earlier involvement in a follow-up study of the 1995 TIMSS work in England, reported in a later chapter in this book, in which the TIMSS assessment outcomes were studied alongside the outcomes from the National Curriculum testing programme in England. Some of the results of this investigation had proved both interesting and challenging so the decision was made to promote wider discussion of some key issues by inviting contributors from all over the world to a meeting the major aims of which were to promote an exploration of : - the theoretical foundations of international comparative studies of student performance; - the practical problems of carrying out such studies; - the appropriateness of the assessment models and approaches used in international comparisons; - the role of international comparative studies in raising standards of student performance; - and how international studies affect the shaping of national policy on education.

The idea of the ICMI Study 13 is outlined as follows: Education in any social environment is influenced in many ways by the traditions of these environments. This study brings together leading experts to research and report on mathematics education in a global context. Mathematics education faces a split phenomenon of difference and correspondence. A study attempting a comparison between mathematics education in different traditions will be helpful to understanding this phenomenon.

This book provides a unique international comparative perspective on diverse issues and practices in mathematics education between and among the US and five high-performing TIMSS education systems, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. The book offers multiple perspectives on the important factors that contribute to mathematics teaching and learning in different educational systems and cultural contexts. Using large scale data generated by numerous international comparative studies, the book analyzes and provides context for various methodological perspectives. The book raises compelling questions and issues for mathematics education researchers, leading to a critical examination of what can be learned from other education systems. Authors address four major research perspectives by critically examining cross-national similarities and differences, such as research on the influence of curriculum on student learning; research on institutional systems of mathematics teacher education; research on improving teacher knowledge and pedagogical approaches; and research using large-scale data. This collection of perspectives serves as a foundation for reviewing and analyzing the international comparative studies introduced in the book.

ALAN 1. BISHOP The first International Handbook on Mathematics Education was published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1996. However, most of the writing for that handbook was done in 1995 and generally reflected the main research and development foci prior to 1994. There were four sections, 36 chapters, and some 150 people contributed to the final volume either as author, reviewer, editor, or critical friend. The task was a monumental one, attempting to cover the major research and practice developments in the international field of mathematics education as it appeared to the contributors in 1995. Inevitably there were certain omissions, some developments were only starting to emerge, and some literatures were only sketchy and speculative. However that Handbook has had to be reprinted three times, so it clearly fulfilled a need and I personally hope that it lived up to what I wrote in its Introduction: The Handbook thus attempts not merely to present a description of the international 'state-of-the-field', but also to offer synthetic and reflective overviews on the different directions being taken by the field, on the gaps existing in our present knowledge, on the current problems being faced, and on the future possibilities for development. (Bishop et aI. , 1996) Since that time there has been even more activity in our field, and now seems a good time to take stock again, to reflect on what has happened since 1995, and to create a second Handbook with the same overall goals.

It argues that the main purpose of educational research is to improve student learning, and that international comparative studies are no exception.

First published in 2001. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.