The 2003 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study data from 46 countries showed that, although the national level of teacher quality in the United States was similar to the international average, the opportunity gap in students' access to qualified teachers between students of high and low socioeconomic status (SES) was among the largest in the world. Cross-national analyses revealed that the countries with better teacher quality produced higher mathematics achievement.However, larger opportunity gaps in access to qualified teachers did not predict larger achievement gaps between high-SES and low-SES students cross-nationally. These analyses provide empirical, cross-national evidence of the importance of investing in teacher quality for improving national achievement. National policies and practices related to improving teacher quality appear to be a promising area for future research to identify how other countries have achieved both excellence and equity in student achievement.

The growth of structured, outside-school activities for improving students’ mathematics achievement is an enduring feature of modern schooling with major policy implications. These "shadow education " activities mimic, or shadow, formal schooling processes and requirements. Using extensive cross-national data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study, we examine shadow education as a macro-phenomenon of modern schooling through its (a) prevalence, (b) strategies for use, and (c) associated national characteristics. We find that shadow education is prevalent worldwide, but that there is consider­able cross-national variation in its use. Contrary to findings from single country studies, we find most shadow education is remedial in nature. We then test hypotheses concerning the national origins of shadow education and its impact on nations’ production of mathematics achievement. Our results show that institutional factors of education, including limited access and lower levels of funding, drive the use of shadow education, instead of high-stakes testing and national achievement incentives. We conclude by discussing implications for both educational policy and theory regarding the degree to which institutional­ization of mass schooling increasingly dominates contexts of schooling.

School violence is a problem in many nations, and rates of school violence in the United States are not among the highest in the world. The authors utilize a section of the TIMSS survey data to (a) explore the amount of school violence among the 37 nations in the study; (b) ascertain whether the traditional national-level predictors of crimes and delinquency explain cross-national variation in school violence; and (c) test whether factors related to the educational system are associated with levels of school violence cross-nationally. The results show that national patterns of school violence are not strongly related to general patterns of violence or lack of social integration in society. However, national systems of education that produce greater achievement differences between high-achieving and low-achieving students tend to record more violence. The authors suggest further studies and testing of one possible remedy for school violence: equalizing the quality of education that all students receive.

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On the basis of the TIMSS Case Study Project data collected in the United States, Japan, and Germany in 1994-1995, this article examines the phenomenon of tracking as part of curricular differentiation and student placement practices in public K-12 school systems. The authors document clear national differences in differentiation and placement measures and summarize the history of conflict over those measures. Analysis of respondent perceptions and beliefs about differentiation and placement (what people think "tracking" is) shows that nation-specific values and attitudes (i.e., cultures) determine which forms of curricular differentiation are legitimated and which contested. Dominant cultural beliefs about what students are capable of and the role that schools should play in educating them create different points of conflict over tracking. . Her areas of specialization are culture, cognition, and schooling; learning strategies and motivation; and beliefs about knowledge and knowing (personal epistemology). HIDETADA SHIMIZU is an Associate Professor in the