The achievement gap in science and mathematics: A Turkish perspective

Abstract

Turkey is a highly developing country with a booming economy and the youngest population ratio in Europe. Approximately a quarter of the nation's population consists of elementary and high school students. Despite this young population rate, the achievement levels of most students in science and mathematics are below expected levels. In terms of general science and mathematics achievement ranking, Turkey was 29th among 30 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2006 and was 32nd among 34 OECD countries in PISA 2009. In addition to low achievement levels of Turkish students in the international context, there are also achievement gaps in the national context. In general, achievement gaps exist in the Turkish education system because of four reasons: large quality differences in school types, extremely competitive nationwide examinations, highly standardized and teacher-centered science and mathematics teaching, and the effects of large socioeconomic background differences on science and mathematics achievement. In response to these challenges, the Ministry of National Education (MONE) has taken many precautions. Recent science and mathematics curricula reforms have been built on more student-centered and flexible learning and teaching methods instead of standardized teaching. Parallel with this reformist movement, the number of nationwide examinations, especially at elementary school levels, has decreased. Moreover, MONE continues to decrease the number of school types, especially at high school levels, because the biggest achievement gaps in science and mathematics exist between high school types. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.