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A study of the relative attainment in mathematics of two matched groups of secondary two express and normal stream pupils
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Type
Thesis
Author
Ang, Wai Hoong
Supervisor
Chin, Long Fay
Plant, Eric
Abstract
A significant feature of the New Education System in Singapore is streaming. Through streaming, the system seeks to maximise the potential of all pupils by teaching them at a pace more suited to their abilities. Thus the lower ability pupils study less content in a subject than the more capable pupils during the same period of time.
At Secondary One, pupils are streamed to the Special, Express and Normal streams according to their overall performance in four subjects (First Language, Second Language, Mathematics and Science) at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). In the computation of overall performance however, Mathematics and Science are together weighted half as much as the two languages. As a result, some pupils who obtain the same PSLE Mathematics T-scores are channelled into different streams viz., Express and Normal. Concern has been expressed that such pupils in the Normal steam might be disadvantaged and their Mathematics achievement could be less than their counterparts who were streamed into the Express stream.
This study was aimed at comparing the attainment in Mathematics of a sample of Secondary Two Express and Normal stream pupils who were initially of equivalent ability in Mathematics as determined by their PSLE Mathematics T-scores. The pupil sample was selected from twenty secondary schools. It consisted of 262 pairs of pupils matched on five criteria viz., language medium (English), PSLE Mathematics T-score, school, age and sex.
A Mathematics achievement tests was administered to the pupils towards the end of the school year in 1983. The test comprised items from the core topics taught to both streams as well as items of a more difficult level or on topics that were optional for the Normal stream pupils but were compulsory for Express stream pupils. In addition, survey consisting of questionnaires for principals, teachers and pupils was conducted; reports of senior mathematics teachers and specialist inspectors were obtained. The survey provided information on the teachers' expectation of the pupils, pupils' attitude toward mathematics, the problems faced by teachers, teaching strategies used, the content learned and the school Mathematics programme in general.
The results of the Mathematics achievement test indicated that:
(a) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better than the Normal Stream pupils (p < 0.02) overall;
(b) the Normal Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.03) in the core topics than the Express stream pupils;
and
(c) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.0001) than the Normal stream pupils in the optional items.
It was observed that, although the pupils were from a rather narrow range of PSLE Mathematics T-scores (45-55), the achievement in the Mathematics test was distributed over a wide range of scores (4 to 80) in both streams.
The results of a regression analysis showed that the PSLE Mathematics T-score was the only factor that was highly correlated with scores on the Mathematics achievement test (p < 0.0001). The PSLE Science T-score was statistically significant at the 0.02 level.
The questionnaire survey revealed that the Mathematics teachers of the sample of pupils in the study were predominantly non-graduates. Of the graduates, more taught the Normal stream than the Express stream, even though most of them had less teaching experience than the non-graduate teachers. The teachers' expectation of pupils passing GCE 'O' level mathematics was higher for the Express stream than for the Normal stream. The Normal stream pupils in this study were more positive towards the learning of mathematics than the Express stream pupils. However, there were more disciplinary cases and higher absenteeism among the Normal stream pupils. No difference was found in the teaching strategies used by the teachers in both streams.
At Secondary One, pupils are streamed to the Special, Express and Normal streams according to their overall performance in four subjects (First Language, Second Language, Mathematics and Science) at the Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE). In the computation of overall performance however, Mathematics and Science are together weighted half as much as the two languages. As a result, some pupils who obtain the same PSLE Mathematics T-scores are channelled into different streams viz., Express and Normal. Concern has been expressed that such pupils in the Normal steam might be disadvantaged and their Mathematics achievement could be less than their counterparts who were streamed into the Express stream.
This study was aimed at comparing the attainment in Mathematics of a sample of Secondary Two Express and Normal stream pupils who were initially of equivalent ability in Mathematics as determined by their PSLE Mathematics T-scores. The pupil sample was selected from twenty secondary schools. It consisted of 262 pairs of pupils matched on five criteria viz., language medium (English), PSLE Mathematics T-score, school, age and sex.
A Mathematics achievement tests was administered to the pupils towards the end of the school year in 1983. The test comprised items from the core topics taught to both streams as well as items of a more difficult level or on topics that were optional for the Normal stream pupils but were compulsory for Express stream pupils. In addition, survey consisting of questionnaires for principals, teachers and pupils was conducted; reports of senior mathematics teachers and specialist inspectors were obtained. The survey provided information on the teachers' expectation of the pupils, pupils' attitude toward mathematics, the problems faced by teachers, teaching strategies used, the content learned and the school Mathematics programme in general.
The results of the Mathematics achievement test indicated that:
(a) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better than the Normal Stream pupils (p < 0.02) overall;
(b) the Normal Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.03) in the core topics than the Express stream pupils;
and
(c) the Express Stream pupils performed significantly better (p < 0.0001) than the Normal stream pupils in the optional items.
It was observed that, although the pupils were from a rather narrow range of PSLE Mathematics T-scores (45-55), the achievement in the Mathematics test was distributed over a wide range of scores (4 to 80) in both streams.
The results of a regression analysis showed that the PSLE Mathematics T-score was the only factor that was highly correlated with scores on the Mathematics achievement test (p < 0.0001). The PSLE Science T-score was statistically significant at the 0.02 level.
The questionnaire survey revealed that the Mathematics teachers of the sample of pupils in the study were predominantly non-graduates. Of the graduates, more taught the Normal stream than the Express stream, even though most of them had less teaching experience than the non-graduate teachers. The teachers' expectation of pupils passing GCE 'O' level mathematics was higher for the Express stream than for the Normal stream. The Normal stream pupils in this study were more positive towards the learning of mathematics than the Express stream pupils. However, there were more disciplinary cases and higher absenteeism among the Normal stream pupils. No difference was found in the teaching strategies used by the teachers in both streams.
Date Issued
1984
Call Number
QA14.S5 Ang
Date Submitted
1984