Comparative Studies
TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE STUDY (TIMSS 2015 BOTSWANA REPORT)
The 2015 cycle is the fourth cycle of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) in which Botswana has participated. TIMSS is administered by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The Association is a network of countries around the globe who are
interested in the extent to which their learners have mastered what they are taught in Mathematics and Science and how their learning achievements compare with those of learners at the same level in other countries. Forty-five countries, Botswana included, and 14 benchmarking participants administered the eighth
grade assessment in the TIMSS 2015 cycle.
TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE STUDY (TIMSS)
The main objective of TIMSS is to assess what students around the world know and can do in Mathematics and Science. The major aim in TIMSS is to provide a rich source of information to policy makers, education managers, curriculum developers, teacher trainers, teachers, assessment bodies, researchers and all stakeholders on the outcome of learning Mathematics and Science and on how the various factors surrounding the learners relate to learning achievement. The project traces trends in the achievement of learners so as to inform participating nations whether learning is improving over time. An integral part of this project is the comparison of performances of the learners in the participating countries so that each country knows how their learners stand in the learning of Mathematics and Science. This study was completed during this period, after national dissemination in May and regional dissemination which was not completed until August 2009. The study indicated that the performance of Botswana students had declined compared to 2003.
1.TIMSS STANDARD 6 - 2011 REPORT
PROGRESS IN INTERNATIONAL READING LITERACY STUDY) PIRLS and prePIRLS
PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) is an assessment of reading comprehension that has been monitoring trends in student achievement at five-year intervals since 2001. PIRLS represents the worldwide standard for reading comprehension at the fourth grade.
As a new initiative in 2011, prePIRLS—a less difficult version of PIRLS—makes it possible for a range of developing countries to assess reading at the end of the primary school cycle.
PIRLS and prePIRLS are projects of IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement). Headquartered in Amsterdam, IEA has been conducting international comparative studies of student educational achievement since 1959. IEA pioneered studies relating cross-national achievement to the different methods for teaching and learning used across the globe so that countries could learn about effective educational approaches from each other.
PIRLS and prePIRLS are designed to meet the needs of a range of countries. Although PIRLS is designed to compare reading achievement across countries for students who have had four years of primary schooling, PIRLS can also be given to students in the fifth or sixth grade in countries where the assessment might be too difficult for fourth grade students.
Similarly, depending on a country’s educational development, prePIRLS can be given at the fourth, fifth, or sixth grade. Participating in PIRLS/prePIRLS at two grades, such as prePIRLS at fourth grade and PIRLS at sixth grade, can provide countries with comprehensive data about how well students are learning to read at different points in the educational system.
MALEPA
