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FOCUS / FORUM
INDEX
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In 2008, the Forum Comment,
was relaunched as the Focus
reflecting the closer comment from
NEMP and the panel of educators. |
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Main Index for Focus / Forum
Introduction
to Focus / Forum
He
Whakaputanga Whakaaro –
Introduction for Mäori
Medium forums
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| Forums by year of assessment |
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Science
Art
Graphs, Tables & Maps
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Music
Aspects of Technology
Reading & Speaking |
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Information
Skills
Social Studies
Mathematics |
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Listening
& Viewing
Health & Phys. Ed.
Writing |
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| Forums for Mäori Medium |
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Science
Art
Graphs, Tables & Maps
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Music
Aspects of Technology
Reading & Speaking |
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Information
Skills
Social Studies
Mathematics |
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Listening
& Viewing
Health & Phys. Ed.
Writing |
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CLICK
on reports above to go directly
to comments |
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2009
FORUM
PARTICIPANTS
Jan Adams
Susan Apathy
Roger Buckton
Tricia Carroll
Kay Collins
Merryn Dunmill
Paddy Ford
Wendy Fox-Turnbull
Ray Griffiths
Joanne Hardwidge
Sharyn Heaton
Selena Hinchco
Deborah Lean
Diane Leggett
Libby Limbrick
Linda Locke
Lester Mohi
Frances Neill
Faye Parkhill
Liz Patara
Tracy Rohan
Ross Scrymgeour
Rae Si’ilata
Robyn Trinick
Ross Tyson |
Click
the Access Task icon for more information
about the tasks which will be available
to schools from November 2009. |
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What did we find in
this year’s
NEMP results?
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| Mathematics |
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Social Studies |
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Information Skills |
“Year 8 boys and girls performed very similarly on the mathematics tasks.
At year 4 level boys had a small advantage…” |
“Students showed a deeper understanding of social studies concepts in contexts that they are more familiar with… [but]… did not perform well on tasks related to New Zealand identity, culture and heritage.” |
“New Zealand’s students report that they are making frequent use of the internet when addressing the need to find information.” |
Focus 2010 reports on what we learned from the 2009 NEMP assessments in mathematics, social studies and information skills for inquiry learning and what panels of leading New Zealand educators think the implications are.
The three reports on the 2009 assessment results were considered by a national forum of teachers, subject specialists, representatives of national organisations and government agencies. The forum has translated the findings into specific recommendations for educators working with primary school children.
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GOOD
NEWS
• Year 8 students, on average, performed substantially higher than year 4 students. This gain is among the largest found in NEMP assessments, reflecting the specific teaching in mathematics between these years.
• For both year 4 and year 8 students, performance levels on more than 90% of the tasks used in both 2005 and 2009 were generally maintained from 2005 to 2009, with about 65% of tasks showing no meaningful change in performance over the four year period and another 30% of tasks balanced between small gains and small declines.
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• Two tasks had previously been used in 1997. One of these, which measures number knowledge, (Jumpers) showed a strong gain for year 4 students over the 12-year period. Most notably, the percentage of students with very low scores dropped from 54% in 1997 to 36% in 2009.
• Year 8 boys and girls performed very similarly on the mathematics tasks. At year 4 level, boys had a small advantage, scoring higher than girls on 18% of tasks, while girls scored higher on one task (2%).
• There is some evidence at the year 8 level that students’ ability to explain their answers has improved (Work It Out, Which Is Bigger?). |
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• The percentage of year 4 students who indicated that they practised basic facts and tables in their own time (not at school) increased by 11% to 47% in 2009 (this followed a large drop from 56% in 2001 to 36% in 2005).
• Out of 14 subjects, mathematics is the second most popular subject for year 4 students (among the three most liked subjects for 44% of year 4 students). It is also the third most popular subject for year 8 students (among the three most liked subjects for 30% of year 8 students). At least 85% of students in both years were positive about doing mathematics at school. |
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CONCERNS
• The patterns of results for Mäori and Pasifika students are similar to those in 2001, the first year for which comparisons are available. The disparities have persisted without improvement. At both year levels, on average, Pakeha students scored moderately to strongly higher than Mäori students and strongly higher than Pasifika students. On all tasks, however, there was a substantial overlap in performance of these three groups of students. There were high and low achievers in all ethnic groups.
• Performance on several tasks involving measurement estimation continues to be quite weak. This may reflect limited practice with such tasks.
• There has been a marked decline in the performance of year 8 students on complex multiplications. This may be associated with an observed shift away from using a vertical algorithmic approach towards horizontal strategies for performing difficult calculations (Multiplication (Y8)) but may also be due to other factors such as an increased use of calculators.
• The performance of year 4 students on quick recall of addition and multiplication number facts, which declined substantially between 2001 and 2005, has remained at about the 2005 level.
• Students attending high decile schools scored higher than students attending low decile schools on more than 80% of tasks at both year levels, a similar picture to the results in 1997. |
LOOKING
AHEAD
• Teachers should help students to strengthen their number sense through fluency with basic facts and through exploration and understanding of number properties. There should also be an emphasis on students discussing, explaining and justifying their mathematical ideas, understandings and use of processes.
 • Estimation skills should be developed by giving students appropriate practice of this important skill. In particular, they need to be able to use estimation to check that their answers to mathematical tasks, including calculator computations, are sensible and reasonable.
• Additional emphasis should be given to developing students’ abilities to understand and calculate with simple fractions and decimals.
• To further develop ideas learnt through easier and simpler tasks, teachers should help students to develop strategies for approaching and solving mathematical problems that require multi-step or complex tasks.
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GOOD
NEWS
• Students are very enthusiastic about learning about many of the areas that fall within social studies, such as living in the future, and how people live in New Zealand and around the world.
• Most students (81% at year 4 and 75% at year 8) are positive about learning more about social studies as they get older. |
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• Students showed a deeper understanding of social studies concepts in contexts that they were more familiar with (Wharenui). Students also performed well when working on team tasks that involved collaborative problem-solving and decision making (Lucky Dip Stall, Spud Grub, Beach People).
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• Some tasks showed reasonably strong growth between year 4 and year 8. These included tasks that required direct knowledge of an event or information such as geographical location (Red Poppies, World Wide, Spot the Dot, Timeline).
• Girls slightly outperform boys overall, but boys do better on tasks involving factual information, a finding that is consistent with previous assessments. |
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CONCERNS
• Students seem to be confused by the term “Social Studies”. While they were very enthusiastic about learning many of the areas within Social Studies, only 3% of year 4 students and 6% of year 8 students ranked “Social Studies” as one of their three favourite learning areas, ranking it ahead of only Speaking and Health.
• The growth in social studies knowledge and understandings between year 4 and year 8 students averages 8–13%. This is somewhat modest when compared with growth of almost 30% in mathematics. (Gains over time are also at a relatively low level: looking at trends since 1997, there is a small rise in year 4 performance and no change at year 8.)
• On many of the tasks, differences in performance between Mäori and Pakeha and between Pasifika and Pakeha continue to be of concern.
 • Overall, students did not perform well on tasks related to New Zealand identity, culture and heritage (Flag Change). They also had difficulty with some items relating to place and environment or social issues beyond their own experience (Rimu Logs, Refugees) and with tasks that called for direct knowledge (Parliament). |
LOOKING
AHEAD
• Results suggest that in order to make greater gains in social studies learning from years 4 to 8, and over time, there will need to be greater emphasis placed on developing students’ conceptual understandings in social studies and on encouraging deeper levels of thinking.
• In the ongoing teaching of this curriculum area, teachers need to explore social studies concepts with students in familiar contexts, and also explore and develop these concepts in wider contexts.
• In particular, explicit attention needs to be given to the key social studies concepts of identity, culture and heritage.
• Also, teachers need to be explicit about when social studies learning is happening by referring to social studies concepts (rather than “topics”), making authentic links to the key competencies, and using the language of the discipline, such as biculturalism, identity, heritage, commemoration, nomination, electorate, values, citizenship, conflict, social action and other rich concepts derived from the conceptual strands and achievement objectives of the curriculum.
• Many of the tasks used in this year’s assessment would be excellent “jumping off” points for formative classroom assessment, as well as for engendering the kinds of in-depth exploration of issues that promote student growth. They should be used in authentic contexts and in meaningful ways, and not necessarily just as stand alone activities.
• In the teaching of social studies, it is important to actively find out what students are interested in, and be responsive to this. Co-operative learning is a useful approach to engage students and improve learning outcomes. |
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INFORMATION SKILLS FOR INQUIRY LEARNING |
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GOOD
NEWS
• Almost all year 8 students (96%) and over three quarters of year 4 students (77%) report that they go to the internet when addressing the need to find information.
• Students at both year levels did well on tasks that required them to find and gather specific information in materials that were provided to them (Mäori Dictionary, Zoo Trip, Get Firewise, Fishy Calendar).
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• Students also performed better on tasks which seem to allow them to make personal connections (Consumer Kids; Sushi). |
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CONCERNS
• The differences in performance by ethnicity — between Mäori and Pakeha and between Pasifika and Pakeha — and by socio-economic status (as measured by school decile) have not improved from previous administrations.
• Growth from year 4 to year 8 on most tasks was moderate overall, ranging from 11% to 14% improvement, depending on the task. This level of growth from year 4 to year 8 is down slightly from 2005, where growth ranged from 14% to 23%.
• Students do not perform particularly well when the task calls for them to think about and use information pertinent to a given situation (School Fair, Earthquake Survival Plan, Kea Talk). They also had trouble with tasks that asked for elaboration on basic ideas, or the generation of multiple approaches to a problem (Everyday Detective, Platypus).
• Although not really “good news” or a “concern”, the information skills that students display have remained much the same since the first assessments in this area in 1997. In the 2009 assessment, for example, year 4 students were 1% up overall from 2005, and year 8 students were down 1% overall from 2005. |
LOOKING
AHEAD
• In considering the tasks in Information Skills for Inquiry Learning, it can be seen that much of what is involved has to do with the key competency of ‘Thinking’.
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• When getting students to think about and use information, teachers need to provide guidance so that students can create new meanings and evaluate these (Climate Change, Goldfish Memory). |
• The internet has dramatically altered how we all go about seeking and evaluating information. Students possessing well developed information skills can perform three main tasks effectively: clarify information needs, find and gather relevant information and then analyse and use that information to meet the required purpose. Teachers therefore need to explicitly guide students in developing and using this source of information. |
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ISSN 1174-247X
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