Australian students’ results on international tests of mathematics (TIMMS) and numeracy (PISA) lag behind many comparable countries and have stagnated or declined compared to previous years. Around two-thirds of Australian Years 4 and 8 school students achieved the TIMMS 2019 National Proficient Standard — compared to 92-96% of students from highest ranking countries including Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan (Thomson et al, 2020). Australian 15-year-olds scored around three years behind Singapore on the PISA test in 2022, with around half achieving the national proficiency standard (OECD 2022).
Low mathematics achievement in standardised testing has real consequences for what students know and can do. For instance, one respondent in the 2021 Knowledge and Skills Gap survey of 164 Years 7-10 teachers reported the following:
“Students are coming from primary school without fundamentals such as knowing their multiplication tables. They have no concept of number and reasonableness of results. They do not predict answers through estimation to understand the reasonableness of ‘calculator’ answers.” (Walker, 2021 p.5)
Policy responses to address disappointing educational outcomes have enjoyed limited overall success. For instance, strategies ordained by the landmark Gonski Review, such as increasing teacher-to-student ratios and channelling funding towards disadvantaged groups, are not currently yielding intended outcomes (Australian Financial Review, September 14, 2022 p.2).