I just thought this was an Interesting data point.
Australian primary school students have recorded their best ever results in an international maths and science assessment, curbing concerns about lockdowns disrupting learning.
The 2023 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (Timss), released by the Australian Council for Educational Research (Acer) late on Wednesday, analysed the skills of year 4 and 8 students.
About 14,000 students in Australia participated in the test across 500 diverse schools.
The report found Australian year 4 students, whose first years of schooling occurred doing Covid, ranked equal fifth internationally out of 58 countries, and equal 15th in mathematics.
I wonder if those scores will go up, down, or stay the same in following years? Can we place bets on this sort of crap?
The framing of this is making me bristle. The headline is begging the question that the lockdowns had empirical negative impact on tested academic metrics, and it presents none, just 'concerns'. The guardian can get fucked for 'post-pandemic' covid minimisation.
If it were up to me, media that engages in COVID denialism and misinformation would be charged with bioterrorism.
I caught COVID for the first time this year because the people around me think it's over. I now have permanent health problems I never used to have.
Yeh covid messed me up in unexpected ways too, don't wanna go into TMI. There's another summer spike and bird flu is on the horizon. Buckle up
honestly school would be easier (for many people) if there were no lectures and just well designed textbooks + exams (esp talking about math here)
- office hours for like 3 hours a day for questions
- an online discord group or something so you can compare scores and be motivated to do better
