Administering TIMSS in your school

Before the Assessment

Thank you for participating in the IEA’s Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study 2023 (TIMSS).

CMEC is hosting live weekly Q&A sessions for school contacts and test administrators. Session attendance is entirely optional. The purpose of these sessions is to highlight important information about TIMSS and to directly answer any questions regarding the administration of the assessment at your school.

Participants are invited to join on an as-needed, drop-in basis. Registration is not required. 

The assessment is designed to measure and interpret differences in educational systems in order to help improve the teaching and learning of mathematics and science worldwide. More than 60 countries are participating in TIMSS 2023 at the Grade 4 level, including Canada.

Watch this video to learn about the steps required for schools to administer TIMSS 2023.

For a complete overview of the project, please consult the Project Outline.

A sample of schools has been randomly selected to participate in Canada’s main study taking place from April 3 to May 12, 2023. In each selected school, at least one Grade 4 class will be selected to participate in the assessment. The relevant provincial ministry or department of education will contact selected schools with the list of selected classes, as well as other important information. The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC) will provide schools with the required assessment materials and information to prepare for the administration of the assessment.

Every student in the selected class(es) will participate in a testing and a questionnaire session. The parents/guardians of the selected students will be asked to complete a Home Questionnaire. Additionally, the mathematics and/or science teacher(s) of the selected class(es) will be asked to complete a Teacher Questionnaire, and the school principal will be asked to complete a School Questionnaire.

Please note that the assessment is not in any way an effort to evaluate the performance of individual students, teachers, or school principals. No data will be published that will enable individual students, teachers, parents/guardians, or schools to be identified. The data that the schools are being asked to collect will enable us to monitor education systems and provide policy-relevant information without revealing the identity of the respondents.

Click here for more information regarding the TIMSS assessment content, framework, and Canadian results from past cycles.