Science achievement: primary schooling
There has been a significant improvement in New Zealand Year 5 students' science performance over the period 1994 to 2002, with the mean performance significantly higher than the international mean.
Date Updated: February 2005
Indicator Description
Science scores for Year 5 students.
What We Have Found
There has been a significant improvement in New Zealand Year 5 students' science performance over the period 1994 to 2002, with the mean performance significantly higher than the international mean.
Why This Is Important
Science is a major influence on many aspects of children's daily lives at play, at school and at home. Science education involves developing skills and knowledge to investigate the living, physical, material, and technological components of the environment and to make sense of them in logical and creative ways.
This indicator draws on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments that included questions on the classification of living things, human health, uses of water, rusting, common energy sources, light, the weather, and changes in the environment.
How We Are Going
There has been a significant improvement in New Zealand Year 5 students' science performance over the period 1994 to 2002, increasing from a mean of 505 to 523. In 2002, the mean performance for Year 5 students was significantly higher than the international mean across 25 participating countries.
Significant increases in mean achievement were observed for both Year 5 girls and boys over the 8-year period, as was the case in 7 other participating countries. There was no significant difference between girls' and boys' mean performance in 2002. Similar results were observed in both Australia and England.
| New Zealand Year 5 students' mean science scores in TIMSS, by gender (1994, 1998, 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||
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The spread of scores, from the 5th to the 95th percentiles, reduced between 1994 and 2002. Most of this reduction results from an improvement in the scores of the lowest performing students, with the 5th percentile increasing from 310 to 374. Looking at the achievement of Year 5 students as a whole, including students assessed in Māori, New Zealand achieved a mean score of 520 in 2002. This was significantly higher than the international country average of 489 and is a marked improvement from 1994 when New Zealand had scored around the international country average
| New Zealand Year 5 students' science score percentiles in TIMSS (1994, 1998, 2002) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Data for the small proportion of students assessed in Māori in 2002 (~2%) are excluded from this table to ensure comparability with data reported for 1994 and 1998. |
The TIMSS science content area scores were calculated separately from the overall science score. These consisted of 3 areas: Life Science, Physical Science and Earth Science. New Zealand Year 5 students achieved significantly above the international means in all 3 areas. In New Zealand, significant gender differences in favour of Year 5 girls were observed in Life and Physical Sciences, but there was no difference in Earth Science.
Where To Find Out More
This indicator is closely linked to other national assessment programs for Mathematics, as well as achievement indicators for primary school students, such as:
- Science achievement: middle schooling
- Science literacy achievement: senior secondary school
- Reading achievement: primary schooling
- Mathematics achievement: primary schooling
The Ministry of Education has established an Iterative Best Evidence Synthesis Programme to systematically identify, evaluate, analyse, synthesise and make accessible, relevant evidence linked to a range of learner outcomes. Evidence about what works for this indicator can be found in:
References
Alton-Lee, A. (2003). Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Chamberlain, G. with Chamberlain, M. and Walker, M. (2001). Trends in Year 5 Students' Mathematics and Science Achievement. Results from a New Zealand study based on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Wellington, Ministry of Education.
Ministry of Education (2004). Mathematics and Science Achievement in New Zealand. First results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2002-2003 for Year 5 students. Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Mullis, I.V.S., et al (2004). TIMSS 2003 International Science Report: Findings from IEA's Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study at the Fourth and Eighth Grades. Boston, Massachusetts: International Study Centre, Boston College.