Making the figures add up
If pupils are taught to make sense of mathematics they can apply it confidently to their everyday lives and be prepared for further study, says Ofsted’s new report, Mathematics 2004–07: understanding the score.
The report reveals there’s been a steady improvement in test and examination results, and mathematics is good in around half of schools. In the best schools, mathematics is much more than routine learning of methods, rules and facts.
However the report found the emphasis on routine exercises, and ‘teaching to the test’ style that's common in many schools, particularly secondary schools, leaves pupils ill-equipped for further study because they lack understanding of the subject. This style of teaching is also less effective in promoting the understanding required to apply mathematics to new situations, solve problems and communicate solutions.
According to the report, teaching and learning, the curriculum, and leadership and management are all stronger in primary schools than secondary schools. Primary teachers’ strength was their knowledge of the needs of individual pupils while many secondary schools face significant challenges in finding good mathematics teachers.
The main areas for improvement include the subject knowledge of primary and non-specialist teachers and the recruitment of suitably qualified staff, particularly subject leaders.
Christine Gilbert, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, said, ‘Too many schools are not teaching mathematics well enough. The way mathematics is taught can make a huge difference to the level of enthusiasm and interest for the subject. Mathematics has so much relevance to our everyday lives – for example, younger children learn about number systems and their use in money, weights and measures and time.
We all benefit from the advanced mathematics that underpins our technological world. We need children to be equipped to use mathematics with confidence in and beyond the classroom to play their part in a rapidly changing society. And we need more of them to reach the highest levels – these are the mathematicians heading for future careers as scientists, designers, engineers and statisticians, to name but a few.’
Ofsted’s recommendations cover primary and secondary schools, the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the National Strategies, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, training providersthe Training and Development Agency for Schools, and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics as well as primary and secondary schools.
The study is based on evidence from inspections of mathematics between April 2005 and December 2007 in 192 maintained schools in England.
Read Mathematics: understanding the score here
