Thursday, October 24, 2013

KENTUCKY STUDENTS BEAT INTERNATIONAL AVERAGES IN SCIENCE AND MATHEMATICS

Kentucky 8th-grade students perform better than their international counterparts, on average, in science and about equal to them in math, according to a new study released today.
            The study, U.S. States in a Global Context, links results on the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), known as the Nation’s Report Card, with scores on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Based on United States students’ NAEP scores, the study predicts students’ TIMSS scores and compares them with the actual TIMSS scores of students in 47 education systems around the world. In the nine U.S. states where TIMSS was given, actual scores were used to validate the study.
            “This is a good yardstick on how well Kentucky students measure up to students in other states and nations,” said Education Commissioner Terry Holliday. “That’s important not only for those who will one day be competing for jobs, but also for Kentucky as we work to build a better educated workforce that can attract higher paying jobs and new businesses that will secure the state’s economic future.” 

Science
            Kentucky’s average score of 534 in science beat not only the average of public school students in the United States (522) but also the TIMSS average score (500); that put Kentucky in 24th place among the all the state and international education systems in the study and on par with Kansas, Michigan, Indiana, Hong Kong and England.  Singapore ranked first in science with an average score of 590; Ghana was in last place with an average score of 306.  The highest scoring state was Massachusetts (567), in second place. Overall, United States public school students ranked 31st. 
            The study also reported the performance levels of students against four international benchmarks.

Nearly 80 percent of Kentucky students reached the intermediate level or above – more than 40 percent scored

high or above.


PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS SCORING AT OR ABOVE EACH BENCHMARK
IN SCIENCE

Education System
Average Score1
Low
At or above 400
Intermediate
At or above 475
High
At or above 550
Advanced
At or above 625
Singapore2
590
96%
87%
69%
40%
Massachusetts
567
96%
87%
61%
24%
Kentucky
534
96%
79%
43%
9%
United States4
522
93%
73%
39%
9%
Ghana3
396
22%
6%
1%
0%
1 On a scale of 0-1,000     2 Highest scoring country     3 Lowest scoring country     4 Represents public schools only

The science benchmarks indicate what 8th graders should know and be able to do in science.
·         Low (400) – Students show some elementary knowledge of life, physical and earth sciences.
·         Intermediate (475) – Students have basic knowledge and understanding of practical situations in the sciences.
·         High (550) – Students apply their knowledge and understanding of the sciences to explain phenomena in everyday and abstract contexts.
·         Advanced (625) – Students apply knowledge and understanding of scientific processes and relationships and show some knowledge of the process of scientific inquiry.

Mathematics
            In mathematics, Kentucky’s score of 505 put it ahead of the TIMSS average score of 500, but just below the national average for public schools (507). Kentucky’s 36th place score was comparable to the scores of Hawaii, South Carolina, England, Alberta (Canada), Hungary and Australia. Five education systems – the Republic of Korea (613), Singapore (611), Chinese Taipei (609), Hong Kong (586) and Japan (570) recorded TIMSS mathematics scores that were higher than the scores for any U.S. state. Ghana, once again, was in last place in the study with a score of 331.

PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS SCORING AT OR ABOVE EACH BENCHMARK
IN MATHEMATICS

Education System
Average
Score1
Low
At or above 400
Intermediate
At or above 475
High
At or above 550
Advanced
At or above 625
Korea, Republic of 2
590
99%
93%
77%
47%
Singapore
611
99%
92%
78%
48%
Chinese Taipei
609
96%
88%
73%
49%
Hong Kong
586
97%
89%
71%
34%
Japan
570
97%
87%
61%
27%
Massachusetts
561
98%
88%
57%
19%
United States4
507
92%
67%
29%
6%
Kentucky
505
92%
65%
27%
5%
Ghana3
331
22%
6%
1%
0%







1 On a scale of 0-1,000     2 Highest scoring country     3 Lowest scoring country     4 Represents public schools only
           
            The math benchmarks indicate what 8th graders should know and be able to do in mathematics.
·         Low (400) – Students have some knowledge of whole numbers and decimals, operations and basic graphs.
·         Intermediate (475) – Students can apply basic mathematical knowledge in a variety of situations.
·         High (550) Students can apply their understanding and knowledge in a variety of relatively complex situations.
·         Advanced (625) Students can reason with information, draw conclusions, make generalizations and solve linear equations.

            “This study makes a good case for why we need more rigorous academic standards for our students,” said Holliday. “The Kentucky Core Academic Standards in English/language arts, mathematics and science focus on applied knowledge, critical thinking and problem solving – the same skills outlined in the international benchmarks. As our teachers become more familiar with what the standards require and build students’ mastery of them, we should see Kentucky’s performance on global studies like this improve.”
            For more than 30 years, NAEP has been the country’s only nationally representative and continuing survey of students’ educational achievement. The assessment is authorized by Congress and directed by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). NAEP does not report individual student, teacher, and school or district data. 

SOURCE: KDE Press release

4 comments:

Skip Kifer said...

To me the most interesting sentence is Holiday's ".... to build a better educated workforce that can attract higher paying jobs and new businesses that will secure the state’s economic future.” The economic rationale for schooling raises its ugly head.

Anonymous said...

Horray for our Commonwealth!

What is so darn confounding is how Holliday and KDE can even consider taking any ownership of this comparison. The 8th grade kids were in the pipe without any influence from common core or any other state support interventions which are being trumpeted as critical for learning. All they got from Frankfort was reduced funding for most of those years.

Could it be that those pre KRPEP, pre-common core, pre-ciits, pre-program review, pre-PGES, pre-end of coure exam teachers were actually teaching kids so that they performed abover average and competatively with these nations we have been indoctrinated into fearing?

Just think what those educators could have done (if they were not riffed) with all that third party vendor contract funding spent on assessments that apparently aren't telling as much as we thouht?

Actually, I guess they need those tests to scare us in to forfeiting our professional control and common sense as educators.

Anonymous said...

I am surprised Dr. Kifer isn't upset about the dubious methodology behind this new report. The report tries to link and equate results from two rather different assessments, NAEP and TIMSS, which are not the same tests. TIMSS isn't even given in at the same time in different countries.

We were recently told that the new Common Core test results from New York State could not be compared to those from Kentucky even though both are supposedly based on the same standards. I'd like to hear Dr. Kifer's comments about differences in the NAEP and TIMSS that would make such comparisons even more dubious.

Skip Kifer said...

I made no comments about the test scores because I cannot get excited about them.

More amusing to me were the Commissioner's comments. Getting from test scores to jobs without passing through the economy is quite remarkable.

I am aware that through "moderation" one could "equate" shoe sizes with test scores. There is enough methodological overlap between NAEP and TIMSS, however, that I would guess the rank orders are pretty good. One can, of course, compare New York State's scores to Kentucky's. I am reminded we were told that the new testing outcomes could not be compared to the old ones. Next sentence: the new test is more difficult and the scores will be lower.

If ever there were a time to educate persons and give them a built-in crap detector, it is now and the object is comments about testing.