Factors Associated with Malaysian Mathematics Performance in PISA 2012
The impact of globalisation along with the critical demands for economic and social development have given rise to competition in keeping up with both international and regional growth. This situation has accelerated the momentum to strengthen and improve
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6. Factors Associated with Malaysian Mathematics Performance in PISA 2012
INTRODUCTION
The impact of globalisation along with the critical demands for economic and social development have given rise to competition in keeping up with both international and regional growth. This situation has accelerated the momentum to strengthen and improve the education system of many countries especially in the Asia Pacific Region. The reasons behind the high demand for a quality education system can be attributed to its contribution in increasing the rate of economic growth (Hanushek & Woessman, 2008) and improving human capital (Glewwe et al., 2011). Consequently, huge national resources have been invested in education especially in the Asia Pacific Region, since the1990s (Townsend & Cheng, 2000). It is important to emphasise that the Malaysian Federal Government has sustained a high level of investment in education over decades. As is stated in the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013–2025, since 1980s, the Malaysian Federal Government’s spending on primary and secondary education, as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been the highest in East Asia (Ministry of Education, 2013). Specifically, about 3.8 per cent of GDP or 16 per cent of total government expenditure were spent on education in 2011. In 2012, about 16 per cent of the 37 MYR billion was devoted to education as a national priority. With respect to this huge investment, high hopes are held for education as an instrument of social and economic policy for producing high quality educational outcomes in international large scale assessment such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an international large-scale study conducted every three years. PISA is developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). It aims to assess how well the students’ capabilities operate with knowledge and skills to develop understanding and the solving of problems in order to meet the challenges of the future (OECD, 2012). Importantly, PISA develops educational indicators to help governmental bodies and policymakers to examine, evaluate, and monitor the effectiveness of the education system at both national and school levels. PISA measures students’ performance in Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacies across the participating countries. The first PISA survey was launched in 2000, followed by the cycle of 2003, 2006, L. M. Thien et al. (Eds.), What Can PISA 2012 Data Tell Us?, 81–105. © 2016 Sense Publishers. All rights reserved.
Lei Mee Thien & I Gusti Ngurah Darmawan
2009, and more recently in 2012 and subsequently in 2015. In each stages, PISA assesses three key domains of capabilities and skills, namely Reading, Mathematics, and Science Literacies, with the main focus on one literacy domain of these three on each particular occasion. For PISA 2012, the focus is on Mathematics Literacy. In PISA 2012 two newly added domains are also assessed, namely Problem
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