2015 National Assessment of Natural Sciences in the First Grade of Secondary Education in Flanders (A-stream)

In 2015 a national assessment was carried out, which was commissioned by the Flemish government, to assess the extent to which students have achieved the attainment targets for natural sciences at the end of the first grade of secondary education (A-stream). Data were collected through seven written tests: 'flowering plants', 'human', 'human reproduction', 'organisms in their environment', 'matter', 'energy' and 'scientific skills'. A representative sample of 3369 students from 112 Flemish secondary schools participated. In addition, there was a practical test that consisted of three tasks: (1) completing a search chart and a determination table, (2) determining the mass and volume of matter, and (3) performing an experiment. This practical test was administered to a subsample of 648 students. Tests were supplemented with questionnaires for students, parents and science teachers. These questionnaires collected information on background characteristics of the students and their families, students' and parents' attitudes, classroom practices, and school policies. The response rates to these questionnaires were 99% for students and 91% for parents. Teachers were able to complete part of the questionnaire online, for which the response rate was 97%. For the paper part, the response rate was 96%.