Mathematics

Trends in mathematics achievement 1994–2006

There has been a significant overall improvement since the first TIMSS cycle in 1994/95. However, New Zealand’s mean mathematics achievement in 2006/07 was not significantly¹ different from TIMSS 2002/03. The proportions of New Zealand students reaching the advanced, high, intermediate, and low benchmarks has not changed significantly since TIMSS 2002/03.

New Zealand mathematics achievement in 2006 in an international context

New Zealand Year 5 students, on average, achieved above the mean mathematics achievement for 12 of the 36 countries that participated in TIMSS 2006/07 at the middle primary level.

New Zealand mathematics performance on content and cognitive domains

Relative to other countries, as well as Year 5 students’ overall performance, New Zealand students were stronger on data display questions and relatively weak on number questions. Students also performed relatively better on questions that involved reasoning compared to knowing or applying.

Teacher reports on hours of mathematics instruction

On average, New Zealand spends less time at the middle primary level teaching mathematics, according to teacher reports, than any of the other English-speaking countries tested. The number of hours New Zealand teachers reported spending on mathematics instruction has changed little since TIMSS 2002/03.

Student attitudes to mathematics

New Zealand middle primary students were generally positive towards mathematics. The proportion has not changed since TIMSS 1994/95. Students who were more positive towards mathematics had, on average, higher achievement than those who were more negative. About half of the New Zealand Year 5 students in TIMSS 2006/07 also expressed a high level of self-confidence in mathematics.

Mathematics achievement and attitudes of girls and boys

There was no difference between mean mathematics achievement of boys and girls in TIMSS 2006/07. Both boys and girls have shown a significant improvement since 1994. About the same proportions of Year 5 girls and boys were very positive about mathematics. However, proportionally more boys than girls in New Zealand expressed a high level of self-confidence in mathematics.

Mathematics achievement and attitudes of students by ethnicity

Both high and low performers were found in all ethnic groupings. Asian and Pākehā/European students demonstrated significantly higher mean mathematics scores than Māori and Pasifika students. Asian students performed significantly higher than Pākehā/European students. Māori students performed significantly higher than Pasifika students. Proportionally more Asian students reported positive attitudes to mathematics and fewer Pākehā/European reported positive attitudes to mathematics. Māori and Pasifika students expressed lower self-confidence in mathematics compared with students in the Pākehā/European, Asian, and Other ethnic groupings.

Mathematics achievement by student’s home background

Students who always or almost always spoke English at home had higher mathematics achievement, on average, than those who sometimes or never spoke English at home. Students who were born in New Zealand had higher mathematics achievement, on average, than those who were not.

Students from higher socio-economic backgrounds, using the proxy measures books in the home, items in the home, household size and mobility, tended to have higher mean mathematics achievement than those from lower socio-economic backgrounds. In addition, the decile of the school they attended, indicative of the level of economic disadvantage in the community in which they live, was positively related to mathematics achievement.

Footnote

1. The term ‘significantly’ is used throughout to refer to statistical significance.