Grade 9

In 2015 TIMSS was conducted in 39 countries. Of these, 36 countries participated at the Grade 8 level, and three countries, namely Botswana, South Africa, and Norway, participated at the Grade 9 level. In South Africa a total of 300 schools were sampled, of which 292 agreed to participate in the study. A total of 12 514 learners, 334 mathematics and 331 science teachers participated in the study conducted by the Human Sciences Research Council.

Grade 5

TIMSS Numeracy (TIMSS-N) was introduced in 2015 to assess the foundational mathematical knowledge, procedures, and problem-solving strategies of learners at the end of primary school. South Africa participated in TIMSS-Numeracy at the Grade 5 level for the first time. Participation at the Grade 5 level allowed the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to set a baseline measure for mathematics, and later enabled them to measure the change in mathematics performance from 2015 to 2019. The Human Sciences Research Council conducted the study in 2014 in 297 schools with 10 932 learners, 297 mathematics educators, and 10 500 parents/caregivers.

For more information on TIMSS 2015 internationally, see here.

TIMSS instruments

Grade 9 learners completed assessments in mathematics and science, and Grade 5 learners completed a numeracy assessment. All learners answered questionnaires about their background, school experiences, instructional experiences, and attitudes toward learning mathematics and science. School principals and learners’ mathematics teachers also completed detailed questionnaires to provide data about school and classroom resources and approaches to education. The caregivers/parents of the Grade 5 learners also completed questionnaire about home contexts for learning.