Bureau of Statistics Analyses Maths and Science Achievement

The Australian, 1 July 2009

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released their Australian Social Trends publication, which includes a Student Achievement in Maths and Science article that analyses data from the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMMS), which tests the skills of a sample of students in years 4 and 8.

The report found that Australian students had largely performed at or above international averages. It also found that the average performance of Australian students in Year 4 had improved compared to the 2003 TIMMS, but that the performance of Year 8 students had declined.

Australian Year 4 students’ average performance in mathematics increased from 499 in 2003 to 516 in 2007, while their performance in science increased from 520 to 527. Year 8 students in Australia received an average scaled score of 515 in mathematics and 496 in science in 2007. By comparison, Year 8 students scored 527 in mathematics and 504 in science in 2003.

The international average for each of the TIMMS tests was 500. Over 70 per cent of the participating Australian students attained the intermediate international benchmark in Year 4 mathematics, Year 4 science and Year 8 science, while 60 per cent of Australian Year 8 students attained the intermediate benchmark in mathematics. Over a third of participating students attained the high or advanced benchmarks for science and for Year 4 mathematics while just over 20 per cent of Year 8 students attained the high or advanced benchmarks for mathematics. Ten per cent of Australian students were unable to attain the low benchmark in each of the tests.

Overall, Australian students were ranked 14th for Year 4 and Year 8 mathematics and 13th for science. Unlike many of the other countries that participated in TIMMS, the report also found that there was little difference between the performance of Australian boys and girls in mathematics and science in Year 4, but that boys performed better than girls in Year 8.

Visit the Australian Bureau of Statistics website to access a copy of the publication (PDF).

 

 

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