← Chapter 2: Summary Analysis
(Chapter II: Overall Summary from Analaysis of Profile Data and Progress)
SAT 10 (Stanford Achievement Test 10), conducted annually until SY2016-2017 is a norm-referenced achievement test designed to measure student’s achievement in reading, language spelling, study skills, listening, mathematics, science and social studies. This test was mandated by Palau Community College to all private schools on the island.
Iowa Assessments replaced SAT 10 as an official assessment for Palau beginning in SY 2017-2018. The Iowa Assessments measures student’s achievement in reading, written expression, convention of writing, vocabulary, word analysis, listening, mathematics, computation, social studies, and science. This assessment was administered to grades 3 to 8. An analysis prepared by the Ministry of Education Research and Evaluation Division indicates that when compared with the Palau national average percentile ranks Maris Stella students scored well above the national average in both the 2018 and 2019 assessments. Looking at 4th through 8th grade scores in both the 2018 and 2019 assessments, the predominant strand with the lowest score is mathematics. Some math teachers feel Singapore Math book are lacking in background information in the teachers’ edition and student’s textbook. For example, word problems are not specific. The U.S. textbook series that was used before implementing Singapore Math gives more information on basic skills and problem-solving strategies. Some math teachers see Singapore Math as a shortcut. It is good in teaching computation strategies or “mental math”, but word problem strategies are limited with practice problems. Some math teachers refer to the original U.S. textbooks for more in-depth information, especially with word problems. The U.S. textbooks are correlated more to the Iowa Assessments standardized tests whereas Singapore Math is not.
Some teachers see performance is good in the computation strand but not with problem solving strands. Singapore Math emphasizes more on “drills” and “practices” for computation rather than problem solving. Teachers see a correlation between low scores in problem solving and low scores in reading comprehension. Teachers see a need to focus more on analytical skills which have a connection to reading comprehension. U.S. math textbooks offer more problem-solving strategies. Singapore Math “strategies” are limited. Examples include working backwards, drawing diagrams, tree diagrams, math vocabulary, and using data such as charts. The math teachers recommend the development of scope and sequence for 1st to 8th grades. IOWA Assessments scores indicate students do well in computation utilizing strategies in Singapore Math which emphasizes “mental math”.
The Pacific Islands Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (PILNA) is a measurement of regional standards based on a common scale; it is a regional collaborative model administered in fifteen countries. The assessment is administered every two years to Maris Stella students in grades 5 and 7. Maris Stella School participated in SY 2016-2017 and SY 2018-2019.
Results from the assessment administered in October 2018 show that in all strands of the Numeracy component, with the exception of the number strand, the non-government schools in Palau, of which Maris Stella is one of two, scored significantly higher than the government schools. The same is also shown in the Literacy component. The results of all 5th grade students’ performance showed 99.7% of them performing at or above expected proficiency level for numeracy and 95.9% performing at or above for literacy. In comparison, the Pacific regional students’ performance results were 83.3% for numeracy and 52.7% for literacy, while Small Island States sub-regional group results were 75.1% for numeracy and 57.2% for literacy.