The release on Wednesday of one of the world’s largest studies into how pupils across different countries are performing in maths and science is a moment of truth for twitchy politicians and policymakers.
The Timss (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) tests are 1½ hours long and undertaken by 650,000 students across different countries.
Last year almost 13,000 fourth-class pupils in primary schools and second-year students in post-primary schools in Ireland were selected to take part.
No swotting was required. The aim was to flag – honestly – the strengths and weaknesses of students and use the results to identify ways of improving the education system.
This year’s results were awaited with more trepidation than usual.
It was the first chance to measure the impact of Covid-related school closures and disruption to children’s education.
In addition, they are among the first results to fully reflect curricular and assessment changes to the Junior Cycle, dubbed by some critics as a “dumbing down” of the curriculum.
So, how did Irish students do?
The good news is Irish pupils are among the best performers in maths in Europe and significantly above average in science.
The report’s authors praised Ireland’s “stable” overall performance since 2015, despite Covid-related disruption.
While there was no significant overall change in maths or science performance, significantly more high-achieving second year students reached advanced levels in science. These performance levels may counter some criticism of Junior Cycle reforms.
All is not rosy, though. While countries such as Ireland are standing still, East Asian countries such as Singapore, Taiwan and South Korea are streaking ahead.
Another concern is an emerging gender gap. Ireland has been unusual in that boys and girls have tended to perform equally well – until now.
For the first time, boys at second level are outperforming girls in maths and science, mirroring a trend in many other countries.
The study doesn’t explore why girls’ performance has dipped. Likely factors could include a shift in student attitudes to subjects since Covid or curricular changes.
Coincidentally or not, there has been a deterioration in girls’ performance in the highest grades in some recent Junior Cycle maths exams.
Although the maths content of the exams has remained broadly unchanged, it has involved a different approach to teaching, learning and assessment.
There has also been a sharp decline in girls’ performance in Leaving Cert higher level maths compared to boys since 2012, since the “project maths” syllabus was introduced. It places more emphasis on real-life scenarios, as opposed to knowledge gained through a more abstract approach.
It is an area of inquiry policymakers will surely prioritise over the coming months to help prevent gender gaps growing any bigger.
