One important use of assessment is to find out where education has been
weak. As an example, consider the results in geometry in the 1995 Third International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessment of knowledge
of advanced students in the last year of high school [Mullis et al. 1997].1 The
average score for the 17 countries was 500. The scores ranged from 424 to 548.
The four countries with lowest scores on advanced mathematics and percentage
of students in advanced mathematics courses are as follows