Student Achievement Study, 1970-1974

This study includes data collected between 1970-1974 by 21 national centers of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), from a total of approximately 250,000 students, 50,000 teachers, and 10,000 schools in 19 different countries. Students were tested on their achievement in six subject areas: science, reading comprehension, literature, civic education, and French and English as foreign languages. Between eight and 19 countries participated in each survey by testing students at one or more of the following levels: 10-year-olds (Population I), 14-year-olds (Population II), and students in the last year of pre-university schooling or programs of equivalent length (Population IV). The countries included were Australia, Belgium, Chile, Finland, France, West Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Romania, Sweden, Thailand, and the United States. In addition to student achievement data, each survey solicited information on the students' home and socioeconomic backgrounds, interests, and attitudes. Information was also gathered on characteristics of the teachers and participating schools. In terms of timing, the survey was broken down in the following stages: (1) Stage 1 (1966-1970), construction and pretesting of instruments. (2) Stage 2 (1970-1973), fieldwork and analysis for science, reading comprehension, and literature. (3) Stage 3 (1971-1974), fieldwork and analysis for civic education, English as a foreign language, and French as a foreign language. (4) Data bank (1973-1975), rebuilding of files and preparation of documentation for archiving and distribution.