The Educational Research Institute presented the result of two parallel international evaluations of proficiency in mathematics and natural science subject TIMSS 2015 (fourth and eighth grade elementary school students), and the proficiency of pre-university mathematics (last year grammar school students), and physics (students with physics as graduation subject) TIMSS Advanced 2015.

The national research coordinator Barbara Japelj Pavešić from the Educational Research Institute explained that the proficiency of the eight grade students was such as in the best Far East counties – they achieved the fifth best result, behind Singapore, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. They did well in mathematics as well, with 12th place, and proved equal to students from the USA, and students of the ninth grade from Norway.

The students of the fourth grade of elementary school improved much in the last five years; they placed eleventh in natural science subjects, and 25th in mathematics, which places them in the middle of the scale.

Good results influenced by the revised curriculum
Also grammar school students reached good results both in mathematics and physics – they had the best achievements from all the states. The Slovenian pupils preparing for physics as graduation subject placed ahead of Russia, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, the USA, Lebanon, Italy and France. Also the students preparing for the higher level mathematics as graduation subject achieved the same result – equal to the result of the pupils of the most intensive programme in mathematics in Russia, and better from all the others.

The Educational Research Institute explained that the good results of the Slovenian students were achieved due to highly educated and experienced teachers, but they were also the result of the revised curriculum which brought the greatest change in education in the field of mathematics and natural science; the proof is also the fact that the results from 2015 were a great improvement from the results of 2011, when the last research was made. Slovenia is one of the few countries which can boast of constant improvement in proficiency in elementary schools; in 2015 a slight drop in proficiency in physics was noticed only among girls.

Sabina Janičijević; Translated by G. K.