Overview

• MEXT published national average results from the April survey two weeks earlier than usual
• Sixth-grade students averaged 67.0% in Japanese, 58.2% in mathematics and 57.3% in science while third-graders scored 54.6% in Japanese and 48.8% in mathematics
• Questions assessing thinking, judgment and expression trailed knowledge and skills items by 10.7 to 17.2 points in elementary Japanese and mathematics and junior high mathematics
• The junior high science test used online computer-based testing scored with item response theory, producing a national average IRT score of 505
• Junior high students achieved a 25.6% correct rate on descriptive Japanese questions and left nearly 30% of those items unanswered