Blunkett orders maths teachers back to basics
By
Liz Lightfoot, Education Correspondent
THE return to traditional maths teaching is to go ahead despite a mixed
report on a pilot scheme trial of the new "numeracy hour".
David Blunkett, the Education Secretary, will today pledge an extra £55
million for training teachers how to interact with a whole class, rather
than
giving pupils work sheets, and how to teach multiplication tables and mental
arithmetic.
The amount of money each education authority will receive will be published
alongside the Government's target for its improvement in 11-year-olds'
maths
scores.
The methods will form a vital part of the numeracy strategy to be introduced
in September under which the Government expects all primary schools to
teach maths for up to an hour a day, rather than fitting it in a few times
a
week for shorter periods. Research has shown that learning multiplication
-
even by rote - is beneficial, as are mental arithmetic games for the whole
class.
HM Inspectors have been monitoring the return to basics in 211 schools
taking part in the pilot scheme as part of the National Numeracy Project
which was originally set up by the Conservatives three years ago. In many
of
the pilot schools, the gains from a return to basics were impressive. There
were increases of between 12 and 16 months in the age-related scores of
11-year-olds in the pilot compared with the equivalent pupils two years
ago.
There had been a marked improvement in mental calculation skills and boys
were doing as well as girls. There was also improved attainment by ethnic
minority groups and those with English as a second language as well as
those
with special educational needs.
The difficulty for the Government, however, came in a significant minority
of
schools where poor teaching and a lack of direction from head teachers
in
introducing the strategy led pupils to stagnate or go backwards.
In a report on the pilot published by Ofsted today, inspectors warn that
the
large gap between the high performance of some schools and the weakness
of others jeopardises the Government's national target of 75 per cent of
11-year-olds reaching the standard expected for their age by 2002. Though
the project had brought "substantial improvement" in some weak schools,
there were those where it had had less impact.
The report says: "A much greater degree of support and intervention will
be
required in the small but significant minority of schools where deep-seated
weaknesses in leadership, management and the quality of teaching combine
to reduce the impact of the project."
The variation in performance are important for the Government's numeracy
targets which assume a rate of progress of five per cent a year for five
years.
The report says: "The variations in year-on-year improvements in the
National Numeracy Project schools, which are likely to be replicated in
many schools in the country as a whole, indicate that progress towards
the
standards targets will be neither even nor straightforward." Mr Blunkett
said
that for 30 years the education service had perhaps not focused on "what
we
know works" in teaching numeracy.
He said: "The new daily maths lesson will ensure that children know their
tables, can do basic sums in their heads and are taught effectively in
whole
class settings. The evidence from the National Numeracy Project is very
encouraging. But it is essential that we provide the training for teachers
so
that the lessons are well taught in primary schools across England."