Earlier this semester, both Grade 3 and Grade 5 students took part in the International Schools Assessment (ISA), an external examination which measures our students’ attainment in reading and writing in Grade 3 and reading, writing and Math in Grade 5 and allows us to compare to other similar schools, schools in the Asia/Pacific region and schools around the world. These tests give students a score and different scores have different levels – the higher the score, the higher the level.
In the summary of results below, it tells you the percentage of students in each grade who are currently working at the international average level (based on the results of the ISA from schools around the world) for each of the tests the students took. It should be noted that the international average includes schools where there are high numbers of native English speakers in the student body and schools where lessons are taught in English in most subjects. Therefore, it is a fantastic achievement for such a high percentage of students to be meeting the international average at this school.
SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Grade 3
Grade 3 were tested on reading comprehension and two types of writing – narrative and argument.
-Reading: 49% of students at the international average (level 3) or above. Last year 26% of Grade 3 students were at the international average (level 3) or above, which shows a huge improvement.
-Writing (Narrative): 96% of students at the international average (level 3) or above, very similar to last year’s Grade 3 results.
-Writing (Argument): 84% of students at the international average (level 4) or above, very similar to last year’s Grade 3 results.
Grade 5
Grade 5 were tested on reading comprehension, two types of writing – narrative and argument – and Math (in English).
-Reading: 54% of students at the international average (level 4) or above.
-Writing (Narrative): 76% of students at the international average (level 4) or above.
-Writing (Argument): 84% of students at the international average (level 5) or above.
-76% of students at the international average (level 5) or above.
Improvement in Reading
The previous Grade 3 students took the first ISA examination last year. This allowed us to compare the results to the previous cohort and discover whether students’ scores have improved based on the reading programme created and implemented by our Literacy Coordinator, Robert Steventon, designed specifically to improve reading comprehension. Grade 3 students showed a 30% improvement in reading comprehension average score compared to the previous academic year’s results, thanks in part to the reading scheme implemented this academic year but also thanks to those teachers who have used the Guided Reading programme effectively and promoted reading in their classes. Finally, a special thanks goes to you, the parents, who have encouraged your children to read English books at home, many of which they are recording in their Reading Records. At Wuxi Campus, we very much hope that with the continued use of our reading programme, the students will continue to make great strides forward in their reading in the future.
High Attainment in Writing
Our students continue to achieve consistently high scores in writing due to the nature of the English curriculum and the writing focus of learning in lessons. This year, almost all students (96%) in Grade 3 students met the international average in narrative writing and the vast majority (84%) of students met the international average for argument writing. In Grade 5, the majority of students met the international average in both argument writing (84%) and narrative writing (76%).
Math in English
This was the first year that one of our grades (Grade 5) took part in the Math ISA examination, which is entirely in English with no Chinese language support. In preparation, students were taught specialised Math vocabulary in order to help them access questions on the exam, and the results were very impressive with most students (76%) achieving the international average or above. This an excellent starting point for our school in English-based Math comprehension.