Getting a Global View

By Debra Viadero

Late last month, thousands of students in Singapore sat down to take 90-minute tests in mathematics and science. Although they may not have known it, they were helping to kick off what many are calling the largest, most complex international study of students' math and science achievement ever undertaken.

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study, sponsored by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement, or i.e.a., will involve more than 50 countries and one million students worldwide and will take six years to complete. The cost of simply administering the examination to the 20,000-plus U.S. students who will be taking it is expected to top $3.5 million this year alone.

But beyond the sheer size of the effort, the study is important for another reason. It will attempt to shed light on one of the most central questions...