Garcia: Increase in SEA performance

Statistics from the Ministry’s Division of Educational Research and Evaluation, Garcia said, shows that students scored higher in 2017 than in 2016, and the performance in English Language Arts improved this year with a greater percentage of students scoring above 50 percent and 90 percent.

The Form One Initiative which was conceived in response to data from the 2016 SEA, Garcia said, will again be used to identify students with numeracy and literacy deficits who are about to enter the secondary school system.

Diagnostic tests will also be done to identify specific content and skill gaps among students in Mathematics and English Language Arts inclusive of Creative Writing.

Teacher training will also be conducted to equip teachers with skills and strategies to help students fill the knowledge gap.

Meanwhile, the statistics showed significant improvement in the 90 percent and over and 50 percent and over in English Language Arts from 2010 to 2017.

In Mathematics, 14.3 percent of students scored above 90 percent compared to 12.2 percent in 2016. This was the highest percentage scored in this band since 2014 when 17.7 percent of students scored above 90 percent. The statistics also show that in 2012, 19.2 percent scored above 90 percent, and in 2011, a total of 21.1 percent scored over 90 percent.

In English Language Arts, 14.7 percent scored above 90 percent in 2017 compared to 0.8 percent last year. This was the highest percentage of students in this band for the period 2010 to 2017.

The passes had been between 1.3 percent at the lowest in 2013 to 3.4 percent in 2015.

A total of 63.2 percent of students scored above 50 percent in Mathematics in 2017 compared to 64.9 percent in 2016. This was the lowest percentage of students scoring in this band between 2010 and 2017. The other highest score was in 2011 at 73.1 percent and the lowest in 2014 at 63.7 percent.

The percentage of students who scored above 50 percent in English Language Arts was 76.4 percent in 2017 compared to 62.9 percent in 2016. This was the highest percentage of students in this band for the period 2010 to 2017. The other highest was 72.8 percent in 2015 and the lowest in 2012 at 62.2 percent.

The percentage of students scoring 30 percent or less in Mathematics was 18.6 percent in 2017 compared to 14.4 percent in 2016. This was the highest percentage in this band since 2014 when 19.1 percent of students scored 30 percent or less.

The number of students who scored 30 percent or less in English Language Arts was 10.1 percent in 2017 compared to 13.5 percent in 2016. This was the lowest percentage of students in this band since 2013 when 10 percent of students scored 30 percent or less.