The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999 Video Study is a follow-up and expansion of the TIMSS 1995 Video Study of mathematics teaching. Larger and more ambitious than the first, the 1999 study investigated eighth-grade science as well as mathematics, expanded the number of countries from three to seven, and included more countries with relatively high achievement on TIMSS assessments in comparison to the United States.

The countries participating in the mathematics portion of the TIMSS 1999 Video Study included Australia, the Czech Republic, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States. The TIMSS 1995 and 1999 average mathematics scores for these countries are displayed in table 1. On the TIMSS 1995 mathematics assessment, eighth-graders as a group in Japan and Hong Kong SAR were among the highest achieving students while eighth-grade students in the United States scored, on average, significantly lower than their peers in the other six countries. This report focuses only on the mathematics lessons; the report on science lessons will be released at a later date.

The Show-Me Center, in partnership with four NSF-sponsored middle grades mathematics curriculum development Satellite Centers (University of Wisconsin, Michigan State University, University of Montana, and Educational Development Center) provides information and resources needed to support selection and implementation of standards-based middle grades mathematics curricula. Feature sample Materials and videos of the Connected Mathematics Project, MathThematics, Mathscape and Mathematics in Context.