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Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng

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Comparison of results between the TIMSS 2007 (Form 2) and PMR<br />

2008 (Form 3) examinations for the same set of schools tested shows<br />

that there appears to be a mismatch between the two in terms of<br />

the definition of excellence. In consequence, in PMR 2008, 30% of<br />

students received an Excellent (A) grade in Mathematics, as compared<br />

to just 2% in TIMSS 2007 achieving Advanced levels (Exhibit 3-18).<br />

One possible reason for this misalignment of standards is that<br />

the national and international assessments have different testing<br />

foci. PISA, for example, focuses on questions that test for higherorder<br />

thinking skills such as application and reasoning. Malaysia’s<br />

national assessments, on the other hand, have a heavier slant towards<br />

questions that test for content knowledge.<br />

EXHIBIT 3-18<br />

Comparison of TIMSS 2007 results with PMR 2008<br />

Mathematics scores<br />

Percent of students<br />

2<br />

80<br />

18<br />

TIMSS<br />

2007<br />

30<br />

58<br />

12<br />

PMR<br />

2008 1<br />

SOURCE: TIMSS 2007; Examination Syndicate<br />

Science scores<br />

Percent of students<br />

77<br />

TIMSS<br />

2007<br />

1 The distribution of grades illustrated is for schools that participated in TIMSS 2007<br />

3<br />

20<br />

17<br />

72<br />

11<br />

PMR<br />

2008 1<br />

Advanced / A<br />

Below Minimum / E<br />

Malaysia Education <strong>Blueprint</strong> 2013 - 2025<br />

Chapter 3 Current Performance<br />

Comparison of Cambridge <strong>Eng</strong>lish standards with the SPM <strong>Eng</strong>lish<br />

language paper also shows differences in the setting of standards. The<br />

SPM <strong>Eng</strong>lish paper (which is not necessarily intended to test native<br />

speakers of <strong>Eng</strong>lish) is benchmarked externally to Cambridge’s 1119<br />

paper for native speakers of <strong>Eng</strong>lish, allowing students to obtain<br />

a grade under both examination scales. LP and the Cambridge<br />

International Examinations set different cut-off grades for SPM<br />

<strong>Eng</strong>lish papers. This difference is most stark at the border between<br />

pass and fail. Under the Cambridge grading scale, 50% of Form 5<br />

students failed to achieve minimum standards. Under the Malaysian<br />

grading scale, approximately 20% of students were deemed to have<br />

failed (Exhibit 3-19).<br />

EXHIBIT 3-19<br />

Comparison of SPM 2011 <strong>Eng</strong>lish language grades with Cambridge<br />

<strong>Eng</strong>lish language grades<br />

Percentage of students obtaining each letter grade by international and national<br />

assessment scales<br />

Percent of students<br />

60<br />

40<br />

20<br />

0<br />

A+<br />

A<br />

A-<br />

SOURCE: Examination Syndicate<br />

B+<br />

B<br />

A1 A2 B3 B4 C5 C6 D7 E8 G9<br />

C+<br />

C<br />

D<br />

E<br />

G<br />

SPM<br />

Cambridge<br />

Assessments<br />

SPM grade<br />

Cambridge<br />

grade<br />

NOTE: SPM <strong>Eng</strong>lish language assessments are assessed once, but receive two grades per paper based on national and<br />

international cut-off points respectively<br />

3-14

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