TIMSS was initiated by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development of Boston College is responsible for conducting the study. TIMSS measures the knowledge and skills of students in mathematics and science. The study has been conducted every four years since 1995. Poland has participated in it since 2011.

The study measures the skills of students in the fourth and/or eighth year of their formal schooling, with the average age of students at the time of the assessment not being less than 9.5 and 13.5 years, respectively. Until 2023, the study in Poland was conducted exclusively with the younger group of students. In 2011, third-grade primary school students took part in the study. Since 2015, it has been conducted among fourth-grade students. For the first time, TIMSS 2027 will include both fourth-grade and eighth-grade primary school students in Poland.

The study is conducted on a representative, random sample of students. Based on the results, conclusions can be drawn about the entire population of all fourth-grade and/or eighth-grade students attending schools in a given country. The sampling is done in two stages – first, schools are randomly selected, then specific 4th and/or 8th-grade classes are randomly chosen within those schools. All students from the selected classes are invited to participate in the study. During the assessment, which takes place at school, students complete sets of mathematics and science tasks, followed by questionnaires. Approximately 150 schools and 4,000–5,000 students usually participate in the study for each age group within every country.

In addition to knowledge and skills, the study examines a range of contextual factors relating to, among others, students’ opinions and attitudes, their home environment and educational experiences, teachers’ opinions and experiences, teaching processes at the classroom and school level, and the school’s resources and organization. Data on these issues are collected through questionnaires completed by students, school principals, mathematics and science teachers from the assessed classes, and the parents of the fourth-grade students.

In Poland, the format of the TIMSS study was paper-based until 2019. 2023 was the first cycle in which students completed tasks on computers, with school principals and teachers completing their questionnaires online. The parents’ questionnaires remained paper-based. TIMSS 2027 will be the first cycle in which the computer-based version will be mandatory for the student assessment in all participating countries.

The first cycle of the study in Poland (2011) was conducted by a team from the Central Examination Board. Subsequent cycles have been the responsibility of the Educational Research Institute, implementing the study on behalf of the Ministry of National Education. The TIMSS 2027 study is being conducted as part of the project "Preparation and implementation of international educational research in the field of key competences" financed by European Funds for Social Development (FERS).

The number of countries and regions participating in successive TIMSS cycles has varied. The first 1995 cycle had 34 countries and regions participating in the fourth-grade assessment, while 53 countries and regions participated in the eighth-grade assessment. TIMSS 2023 had, respectively, 65 and 47 countries and regions taking part.

For more information, please visit: the Polish study website, the IEA website, and the TIMSS & PIRLS International Study Center website.

Data and instruments