1. University of Education, Winneba - Ghana
Comparative analysis of performance of eighth graders from six African countries By
Professor Asabere-Ameyaw, A.
Vice Chancellor, University of Education, Winneba
P. O Box 25, Winneba Ghana Tel , Fax: ,
&
Kofi D. Mereku (PhD)
Dean, Faculty of Science Education, University of Education, Winneba
P. O Box 25, Winneba Ghana Tel (20) , Fax:

2. Areas of coverage What was TIMSS-2003? Which countries were involved?
Achievement in mathematics and science
Contextual factors
Conclusion & Recommendations

3. What was TIMSS-2003?
TIMSS-2003 was an international study in science and mathematics achievement.
Was designed to measure students’ achievement and trends in achievement;
It also examined the contexts for learning mathematics and science.

4. Who carried out TIMSS-2003?
A National Research Coordinator appointed by the Ministry of Education of each participating country was responsible for implementing the study in that country.
Research Coordinators and their team worked with a number of foreign research organizations during the different phases of the study.

5. Countries participating in TIMSS-2003
Forty-six countries around the world participated in the TIMSS-2003, with six of them from Africa.
Those from Africa were - Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Morocco, Tunisia, and South Africa

6. AFRICA
Tunisia
Egypt
Morocco
Ghana
Botswana
South Africa

7. What did participation in TIMSS-2003 mean to African countries?
The opportunity to examine students’ (eighth graders) achievement in mathematics and science using an international yardstick i.e. what students know and can do.
Opportunities for cross-cultural comparisons
It also provided rich information on the context for the teaching and learning of mathematics and science in African schools which could be used to identify strengths and weaknesses in teaching and learning of these subjects.

8. Overview of African students’ achievement
The overall performance of the students from the participating African countries on the science and mathematics tests was very low.
In science, the mean country score for all the African countries was as compared to the international country mean of 467.
In mathematics, the mean country score for all the African states was 353 as compared to the international country mean score of 474.

9. Summary of science and mathematics achievement scores by region
Overall science achievement
Mean Score
Overall mathematics achievement
North African States
407
404
Sub-Sahara African States
288
302
African States pooled
347.5
353
All participating States
467
474

10. Table 1(a). The overall mean SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT SCORES
Country
Overall Mean Science Achievement (SE)
Overall Rank of country’s Science scale score
Singapore
578 (4.3) 1
Chinese Taipei
571 (3.5) 3
Korea
558 (1.6) 2
Japan
552 (1.7) 6
England
544 (4.1) **
USA
527 (3.1) 9
Malaysia
510 (3.7) 20
International Average
474 (0.6) -
Egypt
421 (3.9) 36
Tunisia
404 (2.1) 39
Morocco
396 (2.5) 41
Botswana
365 (2.8) 44
Ghana
255 (5.9) 45
South Africa
244 (6.7) 46
*Standard error in parenthesis.
**Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking

11. Table 1(b). The overall mean MATHEMATICS ACHIEVEMENT SCORES
Country
Overall Mean Mathematics Achievement (SE*)
Overall Rank of country’s Mathematics scale score
Singapore
605 (3.6) 1
Korea
589 (2.2) 2
Chinese Taipei
585 (4.6) 4
Japan
570 (2.1) 5
Malaysia
508 (4.1) 10
England
498 (4.7) **
USA 15
International Average
467 (0.5) -
Tunisia
410 (2.2) 36
Egypt
406 (3.5) 37
Morocco
396 (2.5) 41
Botswana
366 (2.6) 43
Ghana
276 (4.7) 45
South Africa
264 (5.5) 46
*Standard error in parenthesis.
**Scale scores for England were not included in the ranking

12. Overview of African students’ achievement (contd.)
The performance of Ghana and South Africa were the lowest
Egypt obtained the highest mean score in science while Tunisia got the highest mean in mathematics.
North African countries performed significantly better than the Sub- Saharan African countries.

13. Overall mean achievement of boys and girls
There was no significant difference between boys and girls in Botswana, Egypt and South Africa.
The 3 other countries – Ghana, Morocco and Tunisia - showed differences in favour of boys.

14. International Benchmarks (contd.)
Four points on the mathematics and science scales were designated as International Benchmarks and defined as follows:
Advanced International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 625,
High International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 550,
Intermediate International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 475, and
Low International Benchmark corresponds to a scale score of 400.

15. International Average 6 25 54 78
Table Percentages of Students Reaching International
Benchmarks of Science Achievement
Countries
Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement
Advanced
High
Intermediate
Low
International Average 6 25 54 78
Egypt 1 10 33 59
Morocco 13 48
Tunisia 12 52
Botswana 35
South Africa 3
Ghana

16. International Average 6 24 51 75
Table Percentages of Students Reaching International
Benchmarks of Science Achievement
Countries
Percentage of students reaching international benchmark of science achievement
Advanced
High
Intermediate
Low
International Average 6 24 51 75
Egypt 1 52
Morocco 10 42
Tunisia 15 55
Botswana 7 32
South Africa 2
Ghana 9

17. Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003 International benchmarks for Science

18. Proportion of students reaching the TIMSS 2003 International benchmarks for Mathematics

19. International Benchmarks (contd.)
It was only in Egypt that 1% of the students reached the high or advanced international benchmarks in both science and mathematics.
Generally about 75% of the students in sub-Saharan Africa and about 50% in the North African states did not reach the low international benchmark.
The implication is that majority of our students do not have a good grasp of knowledge and conceptual understanding of basic mathematical principles and have poor knowledge and weak grasp of scientific concepts which are lower level cognitive competencies.

20. Contextual framework for learning Science and Mathematics in African countries
To provide a context for interpreting the achievement results, detailed information were gathered from subject specialists national coordinators, students, teachers and head teachers on:
students’ backgrounds, attitudes towards science and mathematics, resources for learning in their homes, and the activities they engage in after school,
teachers’ background,
classroom and school characteristics.

21. Contextual factors considered in presentation
In this presentation, only a few of the contextual factors are considered. These are
Students’ frequency of speaking language of test in the home
Index of good school and class attendance
Head teachers’ reports on the percentages of students in their schools coming from Economically Disadvantaged Homes
Teachers’ qualifications
Differentiation of the curriculum
Exposure to national and international exams
Use technology in classrooms - computer and calculator usage.

22. Speaking Language of test in the home and economically disadvantaged students
Percentage of students speaking language of test at home always or almost always
% of Students in Schools with more than 50% Economically Disadvantaged Students (EDS)
Botswana 11 38
Egypt 75 42
Ghana 33 71
Morocco 53 79
South Africa 27 65
Tunisia 64 59

23. Teachers’ Qualification
Percentage of Teachers whose highest educational level is INITIAL UNIVERSITY DEGREE OR BEYOND
Mathematics
Science
Botswana 8 38
Egypt
100
Ghana 9
Morocco 7 34
South Africa 28
Tunisia 83 98

24. Percentage of students at each level of the Index of Good School and Class Attendance in selected countries
Country
Levels of the Index
High
Medium
Low
International Averages 23 58 19
Egypt 47 37 16
Morocco 26 56 18
Tunisia 17 60
Botswana 5 62 33
Ghana 8 69
South Africa 6 50 44

25. Participation in national and international exams
Country
Grades Tested in National Exams
Grades Tested in TIMSS and PISA
Egypt
5, 8 10, 11 8
Morocco 12
4,8
Tunisia
9, 12
4,8,15
Botswana
7, 10, 12
Ghana
South Africa

26. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators
Country
Science
Mathematics
National Curriculum Contains Policies or Statements About the Use of Computers
Students (%) Whose Teachers Reported that Computers are not Available
National Curriculum Contains Policies or Statements About the Use of Calculators
Students (%) Whose Teachers Reported that Calculators are not Available
Botswana 
95 (2.0)
87 (4.5)
Egypt -
0 (0.0)
Ghana
91 (2.9)
61 (5.0)
Morocco 
86 (3.4)
1 (1.1)
South Africa
87 (2.4)
6 (1.8)
Tunisia
65 (4.4)
44 (4.6)
Singapore
21 (2.2)
( → No,  → Yes)

27. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators
Though the national curricula of some of the African countries contain policy statements about the use of computers and calculators in the science and mathematics curricula, over 85% of the teachers (except those in Tunisia) reported that computers were not available in their schools.
African countries are among those that make the least use of the technology (i.e. calculators and computers) in their curricula.

28. Use of Technology: Computers and calculators (contd.)
It was observed that students’ performance in the two subjects were high in countries which encouraged the use of the technology.
Singapore, for example, where the best results were reported in both subjects, practices the use of technology.

29. Contextual factors that influenced the poor performance
Teachers with no university degree or its equivalent in teaching science and mathematics
Students learning science and mathematics in environments with low indices of good school and class attendance
Lack of provision for differentiation of the content of the science and mathematics curricula to meet the learning needs of groups of students with different levels of abilities.

30. Contextual factors that influenced the poor performance (contd.)
Students frequently speaking languages (local) other than the language of test in the home
Head teachers’ reports on the percentages of students in their schools coming from Economically Disadvantaged Homes
Low participation in public, national or international assessment exercises
Little use of technology (i.e. computers and calculators) in the science and mathematics curricula.

31. Conclusion
The foundation for training science and mathematics human resource in Africa is in general weak;
African countries are among those that make the least use of technology in their science and mathematics curricula.
That most students could not reach the low international benchmark implies most young students in Africa cannot apply scientific principles and systems to solve problems (advanced benchmark),
In addition, they are not able to combine information and interpret data presented in tables and graphs to draw conclusions and to solve problems (high benchmark).

32. Provision of resources for teaching and learning science and maths;
Recommendation
African countries should examine the contexts within which teaching and learning of mathematics and science take place (TIMSS can help);
Provision of resources for teaching and learning science and maths;
NEPAD to constitute a team to monitor and support learning of these subjects at pre-tertiary level.

33. To succeed Africa needs to do things differently
THANK YOU