At the beginning of September, 820,000 6th grade students ped essments in French and mathematics, of which we reveal the results. These tests were set up by Jean-Michel Blanquer in 2017. Since then, essments have been launched in CP, CE1, CM1, 4e and 2de.
How do these essments work?
The tests in 6th grade focus on reading comprehension, with questions on a literary text, spelling, grammar and vocabulary. An oral comprehension exam is also on the menu. In math, students are essed in calculation, geometry, units of measurement and problem solving.
The objective is twofold. Local, to allow teachers to gauge the profile of a cl and the catch-up work, but also national, since they are a “statistical tool providing a picture of the abilities of children at different levels of their schooling” and make it possible to “adapt educational policies”, deciphers the Amiens rectorate. For Sophie Vénétitay, these evaluations “do not resolve the problem of means to deal with difficulties”.
Paris in the lead
In total points, the Paris academy comes well ahead, in French and in maths, at the national level. Average score obtained in French: 281.9. Far ahead of Versailles, in second position with 264.2 points and well above the national average (256.7). Same story in maths, where the score in the capital is 278.3 points for a national average of 254.1.
For those in the world of education, the explanation is sociological. “In my cl, a quarter of the students have support lessons throughout the year, and half when we reach the end of the year,” adds a teacher from a college in the center of Paris. What Maxime Reppert, from Snalc, a teachers’ union, summarizes: “The Paris score firstly demonstrates the fact that the majority of students come from well-off families, or in any case, not disadvantaged ones! »
Mayotte, Lille, Amiens… the red lanterns
At the back of the pack, we find the French Overseas Territories, “academies where everything is worse than elsewhere,” summarizes Sophie Vénétitay, national secretary of Snes-FSU, the majority organization among secondary school teachers. In French, for example, Mayotte obtains a score of 189.2, almost a hundred points behind the capital, also far from the national average (256.7). It’s not better in mathematics, where the Indian Ocean archipelago peaks at 183 points.
In France, it is the academies in the north of the country which come in last position: Amiens in maths (246), tied with Créteil, and Lille in French (249.3). “I am not surprised, because these are the territories which, in mainland France, concentrate the most difficulties,” notes Sophie Vénétitay. Moreover, these evaluations “are more than a snapshot of the level of students, a snapshot of social inequalities,” she adds.
Better everywhere (or almost) since 2017
According to figures from the Ministry of National Education, everything has been better since 2017 and the start of the reforms launched by Jean-Michel Blanquer, first host of Rue de Grenelle under Macron. Of the thirty academies measured, only Guyana, in maths, experienced a decline… very slight (-0.3%). For the rest, Parisian students improved their score by almost 13 points in math and ten in French.
Record in Mayotte which, in six years, jumped 15.7 points in maths and 12.7 in French. How to interpret these results ? “There is, from the smallest cles, cramming on the subjects of these evaluations. It’s normal for the level to increase,” says Guislaine David, national secretary of Snuipp-FSU, the main primary union.