FIMS and SIMS: the first two IEA International Mathematics Surveys

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) is an organisation which experiences tension between the interests of researchers and those of policy‐makers. Three international mathematics studies have been undertaken. The first and second studies, FIMS and SIMS, conducted at age 13 and pre‐university, were each innovative in their day, and some of the results have had a significant impact. Not all difficulties of curriculum match and comparable sampling were solved, resulting in concerns about the validity of international league tables and educational inferences. Nevertheless, the collection and analysis of data in relation to students, teachers, curriculum, classroom contexts and attainment was itself invaluable and justified the enterprise.