Performance » Numeracy » Year 4 Numeracy:
Benchmarking Year 4 Numeracy performance: Are standards being met?
Table CNT4.1 shows the distribution of year four overall numeracy scores of students in Fiji against the PILNA numeracy proficiency scale. This scale converts a student’s overall numeracy score into a level ranking from zero to eight. The expected minimum overall numeracy performance for year four students is proficiency level three (Figure CNF4.6). Pacific stakeholders expect these students to reach or exceed this proficiency level.
The average overall numeracy score for year four students in Fiji in 2021 was 482.76 (SD = 73.33). This corresponds with proficiency level four in the PILNA numeracy proficiency scale, although at the lower threshold for this level (level four is assigned to scores 475–500). On average, year four students in Fiji are achieving the minimum expected standard in numeracy.
Figure CNF4.6: PILNA
Assessment strands
- Numbers
- Operations
- Measurement & geometry
- Data & chance
Overall numeracy score
- 0
- 375
- 425
- 450
- 475
- 500
- 525
- 550
- 575
- 600
- 625+
- 600
Proficiency Scale Levels
Expected minimum performance
- 0
- 1
- 2
- 3 Year 4
- 4
- 5 Year 6
- 6
- 7
- 8a
- 8b
Year 4
Mean score: 482.76 (3.24)
Year 6
Mean score: 544.51 (2.61)
The average numeracy score does not tell us the whole story. The proportion of students who are meeting the minimum expected standard is also important. Approximately 66% of the year four students in Fiji, two out of three, performed at or above this expected level (levels 3–8) in PILNA 2021. Conversely, approximately 34% of the students, one out of three, performed below the expected proficiency level (levels 0–2). In other words, most year four students are meeting the minimum expected level for numeracy, but there is a significant proportion (34%) who are yet to meet this level.
On average, year four students in Fiji (482.76) are scoring slightly higher in numeracy than year four students in the region (478.91). However, the proportion of year four students in Fiji who are meeting the minimum expected proficiency level for numeracy (66%) is about the same as the proportion of year four students across the region (67%) (Table CNT4.2).
When looking at the Fiji distribution of year four numeracy proficiency scores in 2021 by gender (Table CNT4.3), slight differences can be seen for girls and boys. Approximately 71% of girls performed at or above the minimum expected proficiency level (levels 3–8) compared to approximately 62% of boys. Additionally, boys represented higher proportions of students performing at level zero and level one than girls; 17% of year four boys performed at level one compared to 14% of girls, and 9% of boys performed at level zero compared to 6% of girls.
Figure CNF4.7 shows the proportion of Fiji year four students meeting the overall numeracy standard over time. As seen in Figure CNF4.7, a smaller proportion of year four students met the minimum expected level in 2021 than in the previous PILNA cycle (2018 = 78%, 2021 = 66%). This is similar to the trend across the region, where a smaller proportion of year four students met the minimum expected proficiency level in numeracy than in all previous PILNA cycles.
