The achievement of Japanese high school students gained world prominence largely as a result of their performance in the International Mathematics Studies conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement in the 1960s and 1980s. These textbooks (Mathematical World volumes 8 to 11) are intended to give U. S. educators and researchers a first-hand look at the content of mathematics instruction in Japan. The textbook, Japanese Grade 10 covers material that is compulsory. This course, which is completed by over 97 per cent of all Japanese students, is taught four hours per week and comprises algebra (including quadratic functions, equations, and inequalities), trigonometric functions, and coordinate geometry. Japanese Grade 11 is intended for the easier of the electives offered in that grade and is taken by about 40 per cent of the students. It covers probability and statistics, vectors, exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions, and an introduction to differentiation and integration. The other 60 per cent of students in grade 11 concurrently take two more extensive courses using the texts Japanese Grade 11 Algebra and Geometry and Japanese Grade 11 Basic Analysis. The first consists of fuller treatments of plane and solid coordinate geometry, vectors, and matrices. The second includes a more thorough treatment of trigonometry and a more extensive introduction to differential and integral calculus.
