Mathematics achievement: primary schooling

Indicator Description

Mathematics scores for Year 5 students.

What We Have Found

There has been a significant improvement in New Zealand Year 5 students' mathematics performance over the period 1994 to 2002.

Why This Is Important

A strong foundation in mathematics is particularly important as it allows children to better learn new and advanced knowledge in mathematics, which contributes to successful participation in tertiary education and an increasingly knowledge-based society. For young children learning mathematics is integral to a great many aspects of their lives. These aspects include time, money and budgeting, being fair to others, claiming rights, recognising and generalising from symbols and patterns, using technology, interpreting information, thinking systematically and creatively, making things and solving problems.

The mathematics indicator draws on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) assessments which included questions on whole numbers, decimal and common fractions, two- and three- dimensional shapes, estimation, data representation, and patterns and relationships.

How We Are Going

New Zealand Year 5 students' mean mathematics scores in TIMSS, by gender (1994, 1998, 2002)

Year Mean (Standard Error) Girls Boys Overall 1994 474 (4.3) 465 (6.1) 469 (4.4) 1998 480 (6.0) 482 (5.8) 481 (5.6) 2002 495 (2.8) 496 (2.4) 496 (2.1) 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.

There has been a significant improvement in New Zealand Year 5 students' mathematics performance over the period 1994 to 2002, increasing from a mean of 469 to 496.

Significant increases in mean achievement were observed for both girls and boys over the 8-year period. As was the case in the previous assessments, there was no significant difference between Year 5 girls' and boys' mean performance.

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 297 to 350.

New Zealand Year 5 students' mathematics score percentiles in TIMSS (1994, 1998, 2002)

Percentile Description 1994 Score 1998 Score 2002 Score 95th percentile Top 5% scored above this level 613 627 624 75th percentile Top 25% scored above this level 535 546 555 Median (50th percentile) 50% scored above this level 479 487 501 25th percentile Bottom 25% scored below this level 410 420 441 5th percentile Bottom 5% scored below this level 297 315 350 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.

With the inclusion of students assessed in Māori, the overall mean mathematics score for New Zealand Year 5 students in 2002 was 493. This is not significantly different from the international mean of 495 across 25 participating countries. New Zealand Year 5 students' mean performance was not significantly different from that of students in Australia and Scotland but was significantly lower than the performance of 15 countries including England and the United States.

The TIMSS mathematics content areas scores were calculated separately from the overall mathematics score. These were: Number; Pattern and Relationships; Measurement; Geometry; and Data. New Zealand Year 5 students achieved significantly above the average of the participating country means in Measurement, Geometry and Data, at the average of the participating country means for Patterns and Relationships and significantly lower than the international mean in Number. The only significant gender difference to be observed in any of the mathematics content areas in New Zealand in TIMSS-02 was in Geometry where girls achieved on average significantly higher scores than did boys.

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:

• Mathematics achievement: middle schooling
• Mathematics literacy achievement: senior secondary school
• Reading achievement: primary schooling
• Science 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:

• Quality Teaching for Diverse Students in Schooling: Best Evidence Synthesis

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 Mathematics 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.