Under the patronage of the Acting Dean of the College of Education, Prof. Eisa Mohammed Al-Balhan, a lecture was held entitled “Kuwait’s Results in TIMSS 2023”, delivered by Dr. Ibrahim Al-Houti (Department of Foundations of Education) and Dr. Nasser Hassan (Department of Educational Psychology). The lecture focused on Kuwait’s participation and performance in the 2023 cycle of the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS).

Dr. Ibrahim Al-Houti opened the session by introducing the concept of international large-scale assessments and the TIMSS tests to the audience. He then reviewed and discussed Kuwait’s performance in the achievement tests for science and mathematics at the fourth and eighth grade levels. He pointed out that Kuwait’s ranking declined in comparison to other participating countries. He also noted that, based on the assessment data, students’ performance in science was relatively better than in mathematics.

On another note, Dr. Nasser Hassan presented the findings from the accompanying questionnaires distributed to parents, school principals, teachers, and students. These surveys provided insights into the influence of various factors such as socioeconomic status, school and classroom discipline, students’ attitudes toward school and the learning subjects, and their impact on academic achievement.
 

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The lecture concluded with a series of recommendations. Dr. Al-Houti and Dr. Hassan emphasized the importance of conducting further studies to follow up on key findings highlighted in the TIMSS results. They also stressed the necessity of Kuwait’s continued participation in such international assessments, and finally, called for a serious and evidence-based reform of the educational system in light of the outcomes revealed by the study.