Canadian Grade 4 students have performed well in a major international
test of mathematics and science skills, according to survey results
released today.
The second phase of the Third International Mathematics and Science
Study (TIMSS) was written by Grade 4 students in 26 countries. Phase
one results, which tested Grade 8 students, were released last November.
The latest results show that Canadian Grade 4 students averaged
64 per cent in science, five percentage points higher than the international
mean. In mathematics, the Canadian score was 60 per cent, one percentage
point higher than the international mean.
Comparing overall achievement in science between Canada and other
participating nations, five countries scored higher, seven attained
similar results and 13 had lower averages. In mathematics, eight
scored significantly higher, seven did as well and 10 did significantly
more poorly.
“The results are good news for Canada, and represent an important
step forward in our understanding of how students are taught and
learn these two critical subjects,” said David Robitaille, international
co-ordinator of TIMSS and head of the Faculty of Education’s Dept.
of Curriculum Studies at the University of British Columbia.
“Not all countries performed as well in Grade 4 as they did in
Grade 8. Canadian students, however, performed quite well and at
about the same level in both grades,” he said.
Five provinces — British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, New Brunswick
and Newfoundland — selected samples large enough to make interprovincial
comparisons possible. There was no significant difference in achievement
between Canadian boys and girls in either subject, paralleling results
for Grade 8.
Robitaille added that while the release of test results for grades
4 and 8 is a significant landmark for TIMSS, its work is far from
over.
“The more significant analyses, looking for links between curriculum
and teaching practices on the one hand and student achievement on
the other, are still to come, and efforts are under way to raise
the money needed to carry out those analyses,” he said.
TIMSS is the world’s largest survey of the teaching and learning
of school mathematics and science skills. Test results were released
in St. John’s, Nfld. in conjunction with the Learned Societies conference.
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