Mathematics matters – the international perspective

December 2013

Lorna BertrandHead of International Evidence & PartnershipsLorna.bertrand@education.gsi.gov.uk

PISA 2012 – a bit of background

In 2012…

…a sample of 15 year-olds(510,000 in total)

…in 65 countries(including 4,185 pupils in 170 schools in England)

…took a maths test!(with some science and reading questions too and some background questionnaires)

Going backwards: UK literacy and numeracy standards slip down international tables

East Asian nations top PISA global exam

Too early to draw meaningful

conclusions from PISA results

Welsh education is worst in UK

OECD education report 'a wake-up call'

Poor exam results for UK teens in PISA global

education ranking

After 13 years of Labour, England's

schools are worse than Poland's

UK educational performance ‘stagnating’

Wales still worst in UK in global school tests

Wales worst in UK for education rankings UK Lagging Behind The Best

Introduction

PISA 2012 in the UK

• UK (and England) is around the OECD average for maths and reading but above for science

• England, Scotland and Northern Ireland perform similarly in maths, science & reading ….

…. except Scotland is significantly above Northern Ireland in maths

• Wales is below the OECD average and significantly below the rest of the UK

The UK & England are very middling

…remaining a long

distance behind the to

p-

perform

ers…

…but remaining ahead of

others.

…similar to a

number of close

neighbours…

Countries performing significantly worse than England.

Countries performing significantly better than England.

Sha

ngha

i-Chi

na

Hon

g K

ong-

Chi

na

Est

onia

Japa

n

Sw

itzer

land

Can

ada

Vie

tnam

Net

herla

nds

Irel

and

Aus

tria

Aus

tral

ia

Slo

veni

a

Icel

and

Uni

ted

Kin

gdom

Fra

nce

OE

CD

ave

rage

Rus

sian

Fed

.

Italy

Uni

ted

Sta

tes

Sw

eden

Hun

gary

Isra

el

Ser

bia

Tur

key

Kaz

akhs

tan

Tha

iland

Mal

aysi

a

Uru

guay

Cos

ta R

ica

Arg

entin

a

Tun

isia

Qat

ar

Per

u

100

80

60

40

20

0

20

40

60

80

100

%

Source: OECD’s PISA 2012 results

2. Key messagesWe have too many low performers and

not enough high performers

We are better at statistics …… but particularly bad at geometry

Our gender gap in maths is large

Jord

an

Thaila

nd

Icela

nd

Latvi

a

Finla

nd

Bulga

ria

Alban

ia

Lith

uani

a

Norway

Slove

nia

Polan

d

Unite

d Sta

tes

Chine

se T

aipe

i

Belgi

um

Greec

e

Hunga

ry

Slova

k Rep

ublic

Canad

a

OECD ave

rage

Urugu

ayIsr

ael

Austra

lia

Switzer

land

Germ

any

Denm

ark

New Z

eala

nd

Irela

nd

Spain

Japa

nIta

ly

Austri

a

Costa

Rica

Luxe

mbo

urg

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

Sc

ore

-po

int

dif

fere

nc

e (

bo

ys

-gir

ls)

No gender difference

Boys half a year ahead

Girls half a year ahead

Boys perform better than girls

Girls perform better than boys

Source: OECD’s PISA 2012 results

… and even worse in science

Jord

an

U.A.E

.

Thaila

nd

Finla

nd

Lith

uani

a

Mal

aysia

Slove

nia

Sweden

Argen

tina

Roman

ia

Norway

Icela

nd

Franc

e

Croat

ia

Unite

d Sta

tes

Urugu

ay

Singa

pore

Belgi

um

Chine

se T

aipe

i

Viet N

amBra

zil

Canad

a

Nethe

rland

s

Irela

nd

Austra

liaPer

u

Mex

icoChi

le

Spain

Denm

ark

Costa

Rica

Engla

nd

Liec

hten

stein

-50

-40

-30

-20

-10

0

10

20

30

Sc

ore

-po

int

dif

fere

nc

e (

bo

ys

-gir

ls)

No gender difference

Source: OECD’s PISA 2012 results

Boys perform better than

girls

Girls perform better than

boys

Boys half a year ahead

Girls half a year ahead

Girls a year ahead

Boys tend to have greater belief in their maths abilities than girls

Mal

aysia

Indo

nesia

Roman

iaPer

u

Viet N

am

Slova

k Rep

ublic

Colom

bia

Spain

Mex

ico

Tunisi

a

Korea

Serbi

aIta

ly

Hunga

ry

Chine

se T

aipe

i

Russia

n Fed

.

Irela

nd

Singa

pore

Japa

n

Jord

an

Canad

aIsr

ael

Estoni

a

Sweden

Norway

Denm

ark

Hong

Kong-

China

New Z

eala

nd

Austra

lia

Belgi

um

Switzer

land

Finla

nd

Icela

nd0.0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

Difference in the mean index Gender gap adjusted for differences in mathematics performance between boys and girls

Gender gap

Me

an

in

de

x d

iffe

ren

ce

(b

oy

s-g

irls

)

Source: OECD’s PISA 2012 results

Reducing mathematics anxiety among girls could narrow the gender gap in mathematics performance, particularly among the highest-achieving students

Israe

l

Colom

biaChi

le

Portu

gal

Luxe

mbo

urg

Tunisi

a

Croat

ia

Argen

tina

Urugu

ayPer

u

Germ

any

Mex

ico

Serbi

a

Nethe

rland

s

Hunga

ry

New Z

eala

nd

Indo

nesia

Greec

e

Bulga

riaQat

ar

U.A.E

.

Austra

lia

Singa

pore

Estoni

a

Mon

tene

gro

Unite

d Sta

tes

Slove

nia

Lith

uani

a

Unite

d Kin

gdom

Mac

ao-C

hina

Sweden

Finla

nd-20

-10

0

10

20

30

40

Gender gap among the highest-performing students (90th percentile)

Gender gap adjusted for differences in mathematics self-efficacy between boys and girlsGender gap

Sc

ore

-po

int

dif

fere

nc

e (

bo

ys

-gir

ls)

Source: OECD’s PISA 2012 results

What we are doing about it?

“We should aim for where the Chinese are

going – not where they are now.”Kingsbridge College

‘Why didn’t you teach us this before?’ Pupils report how much easier it is to do long division

without bus stop or chunking methods

What we are doing in Primary

Published a more rigorous curriculum for maths. – The new national curriculum increases the level of demand

with greater emphasis on arithmetic.

Removed calculators from the test for 11 year olds to ensure that children get a rigorous grounding in mental and written arithmetic

What we are doing in lower secondary

Introducing a new more demanding curriculum from 2014

Developing more demanding maths GCSEs to be taught from September 2015

Focusing on maths in school accountability

What we are doing post-16Our ambition: by 2020, most young people will continue to study

maths to age 18

Reforming maths A and AS levels, to be taught from September 2016 Students without a grade C in GCSE maths now have to continue to

study the subject Developing new high-quality “Core Maths” qualifications aimed at

students who have a grade C or higher at GCSE but do not wish to take A or AS Level Maths

Introducing specialist Maths Free Schools supported by strong university maths departments and academics to support our most talented young mathematicians

The Teachers

Increased maths bursaries to £20,000 for trainees with a 2:1 or a first and £15,000 for trainees with a 2:2

Increased the number and the value (to £25,000) of prestigious scholarships for the highest calibre trainees offered by the Institute of Mathematics

Funded the development of professional development programmes - for key stage 3 maths teachers focussed on multiplicative reasoning (£500,000); and for 16-18 teachers to enable them to teach GCSE mathematics (£700,000)

Our long-term vision

• Our standards of maths education are on a par with the very best in the world

• All students have a thorough grasp of key mathematical skills by the end of primary school, and finish secondary education with the skills needed for employment and higher education

• The vast majority studying maths through to the age of 18, with more studying maths at the highest levels

• Many more young people going on to study STEM courses in higher education