The Minister of Education Gabriel Attal was alarmed on Monday by the “worrying” results in French and mathematics of national assessments taken in fourth grade in September, promising “strong measures” for middle school at the beginning of December.
“In fourth grade, we see that during middle school the level stagnates, or even regresses, which means that the middle school does not manage to reduce the gaps observed at entry into sixth grade. The risk, if we do nothing, is that our college will break down,” explained Gabriel Attal in an interview with Parisian.
According to the minister, who went to a Parisian college last Thursday to talk about school bullying, the results of 4th grade students “are not satisfactory and are even rather worrying. A little more than half of the students do not read adequately and in mathematics, more than half do not master problem solving and geometry.
Three times more students in difficulty in priority education
The ministry made public on Monday evening the results of the national assessments, carried out in September, which focused on skills in French and maths in CP, CE1, CM1, sixth and fourth grade. For the first time this year, 4th grade students benefited from a national assessment common to all middle schools.
“The first analyzes show contrasting results depending on the education sectors. Thus, significant gaps are observed between students enrolled in priority education and those in the public sector excluding priority education,” writes the ministry in a press release.
“For example in French, 14.2% of students in the public sector excluding priority education are in the lowest performance group. This is the case for 38.6% of REP+ students and 27.2% of REP students” (priority education network), cites the ministry.
The differences are also obvious depending on the social composition of colleges, in particular between public and private.
“Improving” results in 6th grade
According to the minister, “we must take strong measures to raise the level of middle school in French and maths” such as “level groups in French and mathematics. The size of the group is reduced for the students who are most in difficulty.” He promises “strong measures at the beginning of December for college, for entry into force from the next school year”.
In 6th grade, on the other hand, Gabriel Attal is pleased with the results which are “progressing”, “particularly in reading and writing”. In 6th grade, “the 2023 results are generally stable in French compared to 2022, with an increase observed in REP+. Results are increasing in mathematics between 2022 and 2023, particularly in REP+,” specifies the ministry.
One of the key measures of the first five-year term was to limit CP and CE1 classes to 12 students. It began in 2017 in priority education zones, before being extended to the large nursery section. Attal was also concerned about a “form of stagnation in CP. This is a point of concern and we must therefore continue to invest in small classes,” he said.