Norwegian primary school students at the top of mathematics in Europe – VG

This is demonstrated by the international Timss survey among students from 64 countries. The results of the pre-crown year 2019 will be published today.

In mathematics, only fifth graders in Russia, Latvia, Northern Ireland, and England perform better than Norwegians, if you look at participating European countries.

Also in science, Norwegian fifth graders are among the best in Europe, but Finland is the best of the Nordic countries.

The performance of Norwegian fifth graders in both math and science has been consistently good since TIMSS 2015. Even then, fifth graders in Norwegian schools were among the best in Europe.

– It works well

– It is gratifying that Norwegian fifth graders continue to do well in math and science. It shows that good work is done with science at the elementary level. At the same time, we see that development can be improved at the lower secondary level. We still have work to do there, says Education and Integration Minister Guri Melby.

– There are no gender differences in the results in either mathematics or science among the Norwegian students who participated, says researcher Hege Kårstein of the research group that has analyzed the results.

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) measures students’ knowledge of math and science.

Fighting at the high school level

In upper secondary school, however, the results for Norwegian students are declining somewhat.

Norwegian students perform around the international average in mathematics, as they did in 2015. It is on par with students from Finland and Sweden.

In science, Norwegian ninth-grade students also score close to average, as in 2015.

However, researchers who have analyzed the Timss results find a decrease at the lower secondary level in both subjects since 2015. The decrease is greater in science.

The Minister of Education and Research, who has experience as an associate teacher, will investigate in more detail why scores drop when primary school students reach secondary school age.

– We need to know more about what happens in lower secondary school. We also saw the decline in science for 15-year-olds who participated in PISA 2018. We have started a study that will shed light on what happens to science teaching at both primary and secondary levels, says Melby, who emphasizes that both 2019 results such as Next year’s results will provide more insight into how teaching can be strengthened.

She notes that science has been an important focus area for the government. Several measures have been implemented as part of the “Close to Science” science strategy. Measures include science townships, higher education for teachers, talent centers, and an additional science lesson at the primary level.

At the same time, our Nordic neighbor Finland has a much higher number of hours in science than Norway.

– The number of hours, besides the fact that there are not so many professors who immerse themselves in science, can probably say little about the position of the subject. In other countries, we also see science being divided into more subjects and hours than we do, Melby tells VG in an attempt to give a clue as to why Norwegian students do not score as high in science as they do in math.

For this fall, new curricula have been introduced in which both math and science will have become more practical and varied with arrangements for deep learning.

– This is the biggest change in Norwegian schools since Promotion of Knowledge in 2006, and it is important that schools have time to implement the new curricula before new measures are considered, says Melby.

Less science lessons

Researchers point to several possible explanations for why Norwegian ninth-graders do not perform as well as fifth-graders:

Norway is among the countries with the fewest hours in science at the lower secondary level. For example, Finland has 142 hours of science at the lower secondary level, Norway has 88 hours.

Many students are taught by non-science majors. The proportion of Norwegian teachers with a specialization has stagnated since 2015 among those participating in the Timss survey, but has increased dramatically in mathematics.

The director of the Directorate of Education, Hege Nilssen, also points out that many teachers have recovered in science in recent years.

– Good competence in math and science is important for the individual and for society. To meet the need to increase this competence among Norwegian students, the new curricula facilitate deep learning and varied teaching methods. A large investment in continuing and higher education for teachers are also important tools, says Director Hege Nilssen at the Directorate of Education.

Mathilde Tybring-Gjedde, Conservative Party education politician, is pleased with the results, but believes that the development of ninth-grade students shows the need to introduce more school lessons in science.

– I am glad that the government’s investment in math and science in primary school is paying off. This shows that learning and well-being are not the opposite for younger students. On the contrary. But something is happening in high school that we need to take seriously. Conservatives want to implement high school reform, to strengthen motivation and pressure to learn at the lower secondary level, Tybring-Gjedde tells VG.

Conservatives also want a new science teaching lesson at the intermediate level.

– It is interesting that the researchers behind Timss also point out that Norwegian students have fewer hours of science teaching than other countries with which we are compared, comments the Conservative Party education politician at the Storting.