Low achievement in mathematics - A survey

Abstract

In mathematics education low student achievement continues to remain a cause of concern and an impetus to reform efforts. Legislators, policy makers and the public, express dissatisfaction with students’ ability to successfully acquire mathematical knowledge, skill, and the confidence they need to apply mathematics. Australia is one of the many countries reporting low levels of mathematics achievement in its student populations. In South Australia, the mean scores obtained by middle school students in mathematics in international surveys (PISA, 2009; TIMSS, 2007) and national standardised tests (NAPLAN, 2012) are not only below the national mean and those obtained by many other states but are consistently declining. Low achieving students are generally identified on the basis of performance on tests. In this article the low performance of South Australian middle school students in the national test (NAPLAN) and international surveys (TIMSS and PISA) will be outlined followed by a section on declining enrolment in advanced mathematics courses.