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Singapore Number One In Mathematics Again And Rose To Number Two In Science In The Third International Mathematics And Science Study (TIMSS) 1999

Source: Singapore education's ministry, 28 Nov 2000

Singapore has emerged first in Mathematics in a 38-country survey of grade eight (Secondary Two) students in mathematics and science conducted in 1998-99.

The same Singapore Math curriculum that made Singapore number one in math worldwide can help your child too! Get the Singapore Math books from SGBox!

Singapore is ranked second in Science.

The same Singapore Science curriculum that made Singapore number two in science worldwide can help your child too! Get the Singapore Science books from SGBox!

The excellent results are testimony to the high quality of Mathematics and Science education in Singapore.

The significant value which parents and the community place on education, the excellent work of our teachers and principals, the high access to IT and other resources at home and in school, the rigorous curriculum in Singapore schools are among the key factors contributing to Singapore's good performance.

These results were released in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study 1999 (TIMSS 1999). It covered a representative sample of 5,000 Secondary Two students from all courses - Special, Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical). The study replicated an earlier study (TIMSS 1995) conducted in 1994.

Key Findings - Quantitative

Most Students in International Top Half

Singapore is first in mathematics and second in science for TIMSS 1999 (see Table 1).

Most Singapore students are in the international top half. 93% and 80% of our students are in the international top half for Mathematics and Science respectively.

A high proportion of Singapore students are also able to achieve excellent results. 46% and 32% of our students reached the international top 10% in Mathematics and Science respectively.

There were sufficient data to analyse the performance of Chinese and Malay students. For mathematics, 96% of our Chinese students are in the international top half while 83% of our Malay students are in the international top half. For science, 86% of our Chinese students and 61% of our Malay students respectively are in the international top half1.

Consistent Good Performance

The consistent good performance of students at both TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 1999 shows sustained academic excellence in mathematics and science.

Singapore's Secondary Two students have consistently performed among the top in mathematics and science for both TIMSS 1995 and TIMSS 1999.

Tracking the performance of the same cohort of students who were in Primary Four for TIMSS 1995 and in Secondary Two for TIMSS 19992 , Singapore students have progressed remarkably in the course of four years in both Mathematics and Science.

  • For Mathematics, Singapore students who were top in TIMSS 1995 at Primary Four still maintain their top position in TIMSS 1999 at Secondary Two.

  • For Science, Singapore Primary Four pupils who were ranked 7th in TIMSS 1995 have moved to a higher ranked position of 2nd at Secondary Two in TIMSS 1999. Science is taught in our primary schools only from Primary Three, instead of Primary One as in most of the other countries

Key Findings - Qualitative

The study also identified several interlocking factors which helped Singapore to sustain its top positions:

Positive Attitude

Our students not only perform well, but also have a positive attitude towards mathematics and science. 86% and 79% of Singapore students like mathematics and science respectively, in contrast to about half of the students in other top performing countries like Korea and Japan. Our students also regard doing well in mathematics, science and languages as important.

Good Home Support

Our students have good access to home educational resources, particularly computers. 80% of the students report that they have a computer at home. This is an increase from the 50% of students who reported similarly in TIMSS 1995. The percentage is also among the highest internationally.

Committed Teachers, Good School Organisation and Availability of School Resources

The commitment and hard work of teachers and principals is evident in the time and effort spent in planning lessons, marking students' work and other tasks.

Compared to schools in the other countries, fewer schools report that absenteeism, late coming and discipline problems are serious.

Singapore schools have higher availability of resources for instruction, compared to schools in the other countries. Resources surveyed include instructional materials, budget for supplies, school buildings and grounds, instructional space, computers, library materials and audio-visual resources. Singapore stands out in having a relatively high proportion of students reporting that the computer is used at least once in a while in their mathematics (54%) and science (46%) classes. Internationally, the use of computers in class is not prevalent.

Rigorous Curriculum

The mathematics and science curriculum in Singapore has been found to be more comprehensive than that of many countries.

About 80% or more of the topics listed in the curriculum framework for TIMSS 1999 are expected to be taught to Secondary Two students in Singapore, higher than international averages.

Singapore's rigorous curriculum is continually reviewed to ensure that it remains relevant for our students. Singapore also has an efficient system to implement the curriculum comprehensively across all schools.

Background

The study was conducted under the auspices of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). IEA is an international authority on the study of educational standards and it has more than 50 institutional members including countries like Canada, England, Japan, Singapore and the United States. Chinese Taipei and Malaysia were among the newcomers to the 1999 study.

In Oct 1998, 5,000 Secondary Two students from all secondary schools in Singapore took part in the survey, along with 180,000 students from around the world. Students in all courses, i.e. Special, Express, Normal (Academic) and Normal (Technical), participated in TIMSS 1999.

For TIMSS 1995, which tested at Primary Three, Primary Four, Secondary One and Secondary Two levels, Singapore ranked first at Secondary One and Two in both mathematics and science. At Primary Three and Four, Singapore ranked second and first in mathematics respectively and seventh in science.

Table 1: Ranking of Countries in TIMSS 1999

Ranking

Maths

Average Score

Science

Average Score

1

Singapore

604

Chinese Taipei

569

2

Korea, Rep. of

587

Singapore

568

3

Chinese Taipei

585

Hungary

552

4

Hong Kong, SAR

582

Japan

550

5

Japan

579

Korea, Rep. of

549

6

Belgium (Flemish)

558

Netherlands

545

7

Netherlands

540

Australia

540

8

Slovak Republic

534

Czech Republic

539

9

Hungary

532

England

538

10

Canada

531

Finland

535

11

Slovenia

530

Slovak Republic

535

12

Russian Federation

526

Belgium (Flemish)

535

13

Australia

525

Slovenia

533

14

Finland

520

Canada

533

15

Czech Republic

520

Hong Kong, SAR

530

16

Malaysia

519

Russian Federation

529

17

Bulgaria

511

Bulgaria

518

18

Latvia (LSS)

505

United States

515

19

United States

502

New Zealand

510

20

England

496

Latvia (LSS)

503

21

New Zealand

491

Italy

493

22

International Avg.

487

Malaysia

492

Lithuania

482

23

Italy

479

Lithuania

488

International Avg.

488

24

Cyprus

476

Thailand

482

25

Romania

472

Romania

472

26

Moldova

469

Israel

468

27

Thailand

467

Cyprus

460

28

Israel

466

Moldova

459

29

Tunisia

448

Macedonia, Rep. of

458

30

Macedonia, Rep. of

447

Jordan

450

31

Turkey

429

Iran, Islamic Rep.

448

32

Jordan

428

Indonesia

435

33

Iran, Islamic Rep.

422

Turkey

433

34

Indonesia

403

Tunisia

430

35

Chile

392

Chile

420

36

Philippines

345

Philippines

345

37

Morocco

337

Morocco

323

38

South Africa

275

South Africa

243

1 The sample size of the other ethnic groups were too small for the results to be statistically meaningful.

2 Since grade 4 students in TIMSS 1995 would have reached grade 8 in TIMSS1999, countries were able to keep track of the performance of the same cohort of students between the two studies relative to other countries.


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