Conclusions for numeracy performance
Minimum proficiency levels
Students in Niue outperformed their peers in the region and in other Small Island States. In Year four, 91% of students in Niue were at or above the expected proficiency levels in numeracy compared to 67% of students in the region and 63% in Small Island States. In year six, 93% of Niue students were at or above the expected proficiency levels, compared to 72% of the region and 73% in Small Island States. It is worth noting that only 9% of students in Year four are at levels 0–2, and no students in year six at the lower proficiency levels (0-2).
Gender
Girls outperformed boys at both year levels. In year four, 94% of girls compared to 88% of boys performed at or above the minimum proficiency level, although boys performed slightly better in the ‘Measurement & Geometry’ strand. In year six, 97% girls compared to 87% boys performed at or above the minimum proficiency level. The mean performance scores show that girls performed slightly better than boys in year four (10 points) and year six (17 points). There is a higher percentage of girls meeting minimum the proficiency levels in 2021 than in 2018.
Coding
The coding data for numeracy show that the year four and year six students were persistent in attempting the questions, with a low proportion of students leaving questions blank. The coding data also show that for both year four and year six, students struggled with questions involving fractions, place values and telling time differences. The greatest difficulty, however, is with solving complex problems.
Trend performance
There is a significant increase in the percentage of students who are at or above expected levels in 2021 compared to 2018. In year four, the percentage of students at or above the minimum proficiency levels dropped from 85% in 2012 to 65% in 2018 but increased to 91% in 2021. In year six, the percentage of students at or above the minimum proficiency levels remained the same between 2012 (61%) and 2018 (67%) but increased in 2021 (93%). In year four, the mean performance remained constant in 2015 and 2018 but increased by 56 points in 2021. In year six, the mean performance improved slightly between 2015, 2018, and 2021.
