Conclusions for numeracy performance
Minimum proficiency levels
The numeracy result for the year four students showed that 54% were at or above the minimum proficiency level (levels 3–5), lower than the regional result (67%) and the Small Island States (63%).
In year six, 69% of the students were at or above the expected proficiency levels (levels 5–8), compared to 72% in the region and 73% in Small Island States.
Gender
In year four, 62% of girls compared to 46% of boys performed at or above the minimum proficiency level. This difference in performance is also seen in the mean scores across the numeracy strands, with the biggest difference of 51 points found in the ‘Data’ strand.
Similar gender performance is found in year six, where 79% of girls performed at or above the expected proficiency level, compared to 59% of boys. This difference in performance is also seen in the mean scores across the numeracy strands, with the biggest difference of 45 points found in the ‘Data’ strand.
School authority
Most (85%) of the schools in Tuvalu are government schools and 15% are non-government schools. Year four and six students attending government schools performed better than those in non-government schools in the overall numeracy domain, as well as in all the numeracy strands.
School locality
Sixty per cent of the schools in Tuvalu are located in urban areas and 40% in non-urban areas.
Year four and six students attending schools in the non-urban areas performed better than those in the urban areas in the overall numeracy, as well as in all the numeracy strands.
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 unanswered. The coding data show that for both year four and year six, students struggled with questions involving fractions, place values and time difference. The biggest struggle was with solving problems.
Trend performance
The proportion of year four students who performed at or above the expected proficiency level increased from 2012 to 2015 and decreased thereafter. The biggest decrease is seen in the performance of the year four students in 2021.
In year six, the proportion of students who performed at or above the minimum proficiency levels increased from cycle to cycle but in 2021. The proportions in each cycle were 54% in 2012, 71% in 2015, 83% in 2018, and 69% in 2021.
