Attainment in mathematics SEC examinations throughout 2014 - 2016 clustered by year, gender, sector and content area

Abstract

This dissertation analyses students’ attainment in the SEC Mathematics examinations of years 2014, 2015 and 2016. The sample used for the study comprises the entire population of candidates registered for these examinations. The primary aim of the dissertation is to analyse students’ performance within the four Mathematics curriculum content domains, namely, Number and Applications, Algebra, Shape, Space and Measurement and Data Handling. Student attainment in these content areas is further analysed by year of examination, gender and school sector. This analysis was feasible as each question could be categorised by content area and the marks for each question were provided. In general, males outperform females in the Core Paper however no significant gender differences are highlighted in Paper II. Furthermore, differences in attainment between students attending different school types are significant. Correlation analysis shows a positive relationship between the marks obtained in all the four content domains, with attainment in Algebra being significantly related to attainment in Number and Applications and Shape, Space and Measurement. Throughout the three years, the majority of content areas highlight no significant gender discrepancies in attainment, however they highlight significant differences between sectors. Both male and female candidates attending Church and Independent schools outperform State school candidates, with the difference being more pronounced for male candidates. Although attainment differences prevail between State, and Church and Independent school candidates, the introduction of the comprehensive schooling system in 2011 has narrowed the attainment and gender gap within and between the former two sectors and as a consequence, has enabled the latter to cement their precedence over other sectors.