Bermudians top of Terra Nova class
Primary three students scored above the US average score in the latest round of Terra Nova assessment tests.
Acting Chief Education Officer Maxine Esdaille said primary three students had improved on last year?s performance on two out of the three tests.
Their reading test scores improved by 8.2 percentage from 54.3 percent in 2002 to 62.5 percent in 2003 while their maths scores improved from 60.4 percent to 65.9 percent ? the highest test score recorded by any year in any subject.
However, their language test scores fell by 8.3 percentage points from 67.9 percent to 59.6 percent.
?I am very pleased to note that there is continued upward trend in the results which our students achieved on the 2003 Terra Nova tests,? said Ms Esdaille.
?In all three content areas ? language, reading and mathematics, for almost all year levels in the system, performance this year was better than last year so the trend for continued improvement is being maintained.
?Our primary three students? scores are above the average score obtained by the US test group,? she added.
Students ranging from primary four to primary six scored generally the same as the standard US group in all three subjects, she said.
While primary four and primary six students saw their scores improve, students? scores in primary five fell. In the middle schools, first and second year students recorded scores in reading, language and maths between 1.6 percent and four percent higher.
However, third year middle school students recorded lower scores than in 2002.
In the senior schools, scores improved across the board, although they were remain weak in maths.
Senior one students improved in reading from 37.2 percent to 40.1 percent while senior two students improved from 39.7 percent to 41.1 percent.
In language, senior one students scored 41.5 percent compared to 36 percent in 2002, while senior two students improved from 40.7 percent to 46.1 percent.
In maths, senior one students improved from 27 percent to 35.2 percent and senior two students improved from 25.1 percent to 29 percent.
?Although senior school students improved scored better in mathematics this year than they did last year, we recognise that there is still room for improvement,? she said. It was not stated whether the maths scores were average or below average, although Ms Esdaille said the reading and language scores for senior school students were in the average range.
The Ministry of Education aims to have the average score for each year level tested to be at or above the US Terra Nova average by June, 2005.