In a country comparison study, Austrian students in the eighth grade (4th grade AHS/high school) ended up at the top of the midfield in the field of natural sciences and mathematics. In both mathematics and natural sciences, around 4,600 red-white-red participants in the so-called Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) each achieved 512 points, placing them in eleventh place. Singapore is at the top with scores above 600.
This is followed by Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. The best EU country in mathematics is Ireland (522) and Finland (521) in natural sciences. In both test areas, Austria performs comparable to the better-known PISA study, which tests slightly older students. There too, local young people are particularly strong in mathematics, while they perform relatively worse in reading (not measured in TIMSS). However, a direct comparison is not possible because other countries participate in the two studies.
The strengths and weaknesses of Austrian students
Austria owes its generally good results in mathematics at TIMSS mainly to the relatively small number of weak students. Conversely, in Austria there are relatively few top students (only five percent, the EU average is seven percent, international average: 10 percent).
The Austrians’ mathematical strengths lie in the category of numbers and measurements; the study participants were weaker in data and probabilities. When it comes to natural sciences, Austria is particularly strong in physics and geography, mediocre in chemistry and weaker in biology.
Social status is an important influencing factor
The young people’s social status influenced their performance, as those with low social status (including parental educational status, access to resources) achieved on average 88 points less in mathematics than those with high social status, and in natural skills . in sciences the difference was even 112 points. The point differences by migration background are significantly smaller. In Austria, migrants scored on average 38 points lower in math and 57 points lower in science.
There is virtually no difference between the sexes: although boys generally achieve better results in both mathematics and science, in Austria the differences (7 and 6 points respectively) are practically insignificant.
Minister of Education: “Schools provide solid foundations”
According to Education Minister Martin Polaschek (ÖVP), the results show “that Austrian schools provide a solid foundation in the field of mathematics and science.” At the same time, it would underline the importance of efforts to further reduce social and migration-related disparities, a press release said.
Source: Krone
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