Critical analysis of the Romanian Mathematics and Sciences school curricula based on the Romanian pupils’ results on international testing

Abstract

Romania occupied a back position in the international tests on Mathematics and Sciences. Teachers stress out that one possible cause of this situation could be finding on the Mathematics and Sciences curricula. This paper presents the results of the comparisons of the Romanian curricula with the curricula promoted by the international testing (PISA 2000, 2003 and 2006, and TIMSS 1995, 1999, 2003, 2007) and the curricula of the countries occupied the first places in these tests. The comparisons underline those curricula approaches, which insure success on these tests and realize the reasons of the lack of success of the Romanian pupils. These results will be presented to the curriculum makers, universities and schools, to identify the specific and transferable competencies of the pupils with success in the above-mentioned disciplines.