U.S. Department of Education

NCES 2011-472

NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study

Comparing state academic performance against international benchmarks

What is NAEP?

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the 

largest nationally representative assessment of what students across 

the United States know and can do in various subjects, and has been 

administered since 1969. The results of NAEP are released for a 

variety of subjects as The Nation’s Report Card, and they are available 

for the nation and states. Results are also available for selected urban 

districts as part of the Trial Urban District Assessment (TUDA). 

What is TIMSS?

The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 

is an international assessment that measures student learning in 

mathematics and science. Since 1995, it has provided reliable and 

timely data on the achievement of United States fourth- and eighthgrade students in these subjects compared to that of students in 

other countries.

What is the NAEP-TIMSS 

Linking Study?

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) initiated this 

study in an effort to link national and international assessments at 

grade 8 so that states and selected districts can compare their own 

students’ performance against international benchmarks. The linking 

study was conducted in 2011 at grade 8 in mathematics and science. 

NCES will link, or “project,” state-level scores on TIMSS in both 

subjects using data from NAEP. NCES will also project district-level 

scores on TIMSS in mathematics for districts that were selected to 

participate in TUDA. 
TIMSS Participation in 2011 at Grade 8

In spring 2011, more than 50 countries and jurisdictions participated in 

TIMSS. More than 20,000 students in more than 1,000 schools across 

the United States took the assessment, joining almost 500,000 other 

students around the world who took part in TIMSS.

Countries that participated 

in 2011 TIMSS

For a complete list of 

countries, visit:

http://nces.ed.gov/timss/

countries.asp

First Time International Results

In 2011, every state and selected districts participated in the NAEP 

mathematics and science assessments. States’ NAEP results for 

eighth-grade students will be projected onto the TIMSS scoring scales 

for both assessments; districts’ NAEP results will be projected onto 

the TIMSS scoring scale for mathematics. Each state and district will 

receive a projected TIMSS score which will allow them to compare 

their students’ performance with students of other nations. Nine 

states were oversampled to be state representative. The actual TIMSS 

scores from these nine states will be compared to the projected TIMSS 

scores to ensure the validity of the linking study. The nine states that 

participated included Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, 

Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and North Carolina. 

NAEP and TIMSS are Similar Assessments 

There are similarities between NAEP and TIMSS that help the 

assessments to be compared. The assessments:

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• 

• 

• 

• 

are administered by NCES,

are sample-based assessments, 

assess fourth- and eighth-graders (the linking study will 

only provide results at grade 8),

have similar types of questions, and 

assess mathematics and science across a similar range of 

content areas. 

NAEP and TIMSS differ in:

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• 

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sampling processes and sizes,

specifications for questions, and

the emphasis and distribution of questions across content areas.

January – March 2011: 

States and districts 

participated in NAEP

Spring 2011:

Countries and 

jurisdictions participated 

in TIMSS 

Fall 2011: 

NAEP mathematics 

results released
Spring – Summer 2012:

NAEP science 

results released 

December 2012:

TIMSS results, and 

TIMSS results for nine 

validation states released

Late 2012 – Early 2013: 

Results of NAEP-TIMSS 

Linking Study released

NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study Provides Important 

Additional Data

NAEP helps educators and the public to know how well students are 

doing in a variety of subjects and at different grades compared to 

other students nationally or in their own state or district. International 

assessments, on the other hand, offer a unique opportunity to compare 

student performance in the United States to the performance of 

students in other countries. It is important to know how students in 

this country fare in an internationally competitive environment. The 

NAEP-TIMSS Linking Study provides states and participating urban 

districts the opportunity to compare the performance of their students 

with that of students from other nations around the world and to view 

their curriculum in an international context.

Release of Results 

NAEP mathematics results will be released about six months after 

the assessment, with science results following about six months later. 

TIMSS results for the nine validation states will be released at the same 

time as the international and national results in late 2012. The results 

of the linking study—with projected TIMSS scores—will be released in 

late 2012 to early 2013.

If you have questions about the NAEP-TIMSS 

Linking Study, contact NCES at: 

National Center for Education Statistics 

Assessment Division – 8th Floor 

1990 K Street NW 

Washington, DC 20006 

Phone: 202-502-7420 

http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/ 

contactus.asp

To order copies of The Nation’s Report 

Card, TIMSS reports, or other NCES 

publications, contact ED Pubs at:

ED Pubs 

U.S. Department of Education 

P.O. Box 22207 

Alexandria, VA 22304 

www.EDPubs.gov

For more information about NAEP, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard.

For more information about TIMSS, visit: http://nces.ed.gov/timss.

Test yourself using NAEP and TIMSS items at: http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/eyk.

This document was prepared for the National Center for Education 

Statistics under Contract No. ED-07-DO-0338 with Hager Sharp. 

www.ed.gov	 ies.ed.gov