MEASURING UPPER PRIMARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ MATHEMATICAL COMPETENCY

Abstract

Objectives of this research article were to measure student, mathematical proficiency. The target group consisted of 21 students of grade 4 to grade 6 from one of the elementary schools in Khon Kaen Province, conducted by the qualitative and quantitative research. The data were collected during the second semester of the 2020 academic year. The method, certified by the Mathematics Certification Institute of Thailand (2017), used to collect and extract the data were Mathematical Competency Test levels 10-6, students’ answer sheets, and examination equipment for each level. During the test, students were allowed to make notes and write down their thought process on their test paper and afterwards write their answers in the answer sheet provided. The analyzed data included the result of Mathematical Competency Test of the target groups, the analysis of the score of all test takers across the country, and the thought process of the target’s test takers found in the test papers and in the answer, sheets noted while taking the test. The data were analyzed using a content framework and overall competency framework of the Mathematics Competency Test level 10 to level 6.

The results can be summarized as follows: In measuring the levels of mathematics proficiency (i.e., 5 levels) the result showed that six students with a mathematical Proficiency level at level 10 accounted for 28.57% of the target students. Level 9 had 11 students, representing 52.38% of the target students, Level 8 had 3 students, representing 14.29% of the target students and Level 7 with 1 person, representing 4.76% of the target students. It also reflected that students had proficiency in mathematics in various areas according to the exam content framework and showed overall competency.