Type: Press Release
Date: 19 November 2009
The Evaluation Institute of the Supreme Education Council recently announced the results for Qatar Comprehensive Educational Assessment (QCEA) in which about thirty-six thousand independent schools students participated in last academic year.
View results
The results show many positive indicators from year to year as the education reform progresses. The Evaluation Institute confirmed that the indicators of the results of tests for 2008-2009 show substantial progress in performance levels compared to previous years, where the performance of some students is at the highest levels. The number of students in the “below standards” level has reduced.
The results show that the performance in the Arabic language was better than the other three articles subjects - English language, mathematics and science - English language came in second place.
There is an improvement in mathematics and science in comparison with a high percentage of students in the third level of “Below standards” level as compared with last year where a high percentage students fell in the second and first levels of the Below standards level. This gives a clear indication of the possibility of further improvement in the coming years and an increase of students who will approach standards, especially in light of the efforts undertaken by the Evaluation Institute in collaboration with schools to stress the importance of national testing for students and motivate them to perform their best in dealing with it.
Most important indicators of the results of tests for Qatar Comprehensive Educational Assessment used the following four aspects:
I. Performance levels results for 2009
There are five performance levels that indicate whether a student has met standards or not: Meet standards – level 5; Approaches standards – level 4 and; below standards – 1 through 3.
Arabic language
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Overall performance in Arabic was the best compared to other subjects. Grade 7 showed the best performance levels with 37% of students “Approach Standards” and 9% “Meet Standards,” compared to last year’s figure of 6% in the level of “Meets Standards.”
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Between 28% to 37% of the students fall in the “Approach Standards” level.
English
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English language came in second after the Arabic language. Grades 4 to 7 showed exceptional performance as more than 10% of students are in the “Meet Standards” level while more than 29% are in the “Approach Standards” level.
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In all the grades, between 8% to 15% of students reached the highest level – “Meets Standards.”
Mathematics
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The performance of students in preparatory and secondary level especially the eighth, ninth and tenth grades is better than the performance of younger students.
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The best performance came from the eighth and tenth graders as more than 30% of students in each of the levels “Approach Standards.”
Science
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Students performance in science is better than mathematics in all classes (except grade 6) as more than 30% of students are at the “Approach Standards” level.
II: Comparison by Cohort (I – V)
Arabic
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Fourth grade: The comparison of independent schools cohorts reveals that the performance of cohort I was better than that of cohort II. This is a clear indication that accumulated experience over time in schools and a longer time for students been exposed leads to improved methods.
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Seventh grade: The seventh grade showed exceptional performance in all cohorts. The performance of the first and the second and fifth cohorts are better, as expected.
English
The performance of the first and the second cohorts is better, as more than half of the number of students are in the top level.
Mathematics
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Fourth grade: Results from the first and second cohorts were better than in other cohorts. It’s possible that this result is an indication of the existence of some difficulties, as this test is the first in English for the students.
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Ninth grade: About 60% of students in the first cohort achieved the “approach or meet standards” level. Schools that recently joined the independent school system have lower performance
Science
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Fourth grade: Performance of students in the first and second cohorts was relatively better than other cohorts. An improvement in performance of science for the fourth grade was better than last year.
III: QCEA comparison 2008 - 2009
Arabic
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Results remained relatively stable in this assessment with some exceptions including the increase in the number of students in the Meets Standards for grades 6, 7 and 8 from 2008 to 2009.
English
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The results of the English language assessment shows the tendency for more students in the “Approached and Meets standards” level with significant increase about 30% in grades 4 to 7.
Mathematics
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Fourth and eighth grades: There is an initial decline in the percentage of students in both “Approaches Standards and Meets standards” levels from 2005 to 2007, but there is a slight increase from 2007 to 2009.
IV: Trends in scores in the four Subjects
Arabic
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Results remained relatively stable in this test.
English
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Data showed a trend of improved grades for students in the English language in the Qatar Comprehensive Educational Assessment between 2005 and 2009, with the highest increase in average scale scores in the fifth grade.
Mathematics
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There is a clear trend towards higher levels between 2005 and 2009 in the ninth grade.
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