A major international test has revealed a concerning gender gap in maths among Australian school students. In the 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Australia’s boys did much better than girls. Year 4 boys outperformed girls by ...
More »Covid-era students outperform previous years in TIMSS
Year 4 students who were in Kindergarten and Year 1 during Covid-19 lockdowns have "defied concerns about disrupted learning," a report analysing Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has found. TIMSS is a study that compares student performance ...
More »Australian students break into the top 10 for maths and science, but significant inequalities still exist: TIMSS Report
Australian Year 8 students have cracked the top ten for maths and science globally, with the 2019 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) showing they were outperformed by only six other countries. The results, which were released in ...
More »What drives teaching quality? A PISA co-creator’s take
Last week's hand-wringing over the comparability of online NAPLAN tests with paper versions is moot. That is, according to one of the architects of PISA, Professor Doctor Eckhard Klieme. Klieme, a professor of education research (with a background in maths and psychology) ...
More »Opinion: the pressure-cooker lives of Singapore’s teachers
Twelve-hour days and big classes are realities that Singapore's teachers face daily. Such conditions create stressful work environments which impede their capacity to live up to their global reputation for teaching excellence. They are usually too exhausted to be the classroom innovators they ...
More »Expert suggests school STEM push has failed
Is there a crisis in Australian science and mathematics education? UNE and QUT academics posed this question in 2014, in their 45-page thesis, The Continuing Decline Of Science And Mathematics Enrolments In Australian High Schools. They definitively answered 'yes'. Three years ...
More »Aussie author slams Singapore’s education system
Each time international PISA and TIMSS results are released, the word Singapore is breathlessly mentioned. Although the city state continuously tops these tests, cracks are beginning to show in its educational veneer. Several academics have pointed out flaws in the tests themselves, including ...
More »Low literacy scores for primary school students
A study conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) has revealed Australian primary school students scored the lowest of any English-speaking nation in an international test of reading. In the first international assessment of reading ...
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