Maths

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Francis Gilbert: Have you taught a day in your life?

I think this gets right to the heart of the matter of what's wrong with education today. The Conservative MP, Nick Gibb, having watched my video of Gallions primary school (see below) in which a very experienced headteacher talks about teaching Maths through dance, proclaims that this is not appropriate teaching. I challenged him about this; after all, what right ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Debra Kidd: "The same Poynton High School that is a performing arts college with an excellent PADS project where the dance department go into local primary schools and teach, err, Maths through Dance?..."

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Henry Stewart: Is GCSE Grade Inflation a Myth?

The conventional wisdom is that GCSE grades are not worth what they used to be, that they have suffered from grade inflation and that business has lost faith in them. But is there any basis to this? Janet Downs has looked at some of the evidence in our FAQ section (under School Performance), and there does seem to be more evidence ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by agov: "Well, you could start by reading that Guardian article from four years ago in which we learn from Margaret Jones, honorary secretary of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics, that "the report was too backward-looking. Pass levels had always been ......"

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Janet Downs: King’s College academic quoted in Commons re decline in maths standards says TIMSS reveals a different trend. So what did TIMSS find?

“In TIMSS* 2007 England performed significantly above the TIMSS scale average in both grades and subjects for the first time,” wrote the National Foundation for Education Research (NFER). The scores of English 10 and 14 year-olds had increased appreciably in both Maths and Science since the tests were first taken in 1999. King’s College academic, Dr Jeremy Hodgen, whose own research ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "TIMSS not TIMMS. Why do I still do that!..."

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Janet Downs: Doubts cast on Telegraph claims about falling maths standards

FullFact investigated a Telegraph article stating that maths standards in schools had “declined sharply” since the 1970s. The Telegraph cited research by Dr Jeremy Hodgen, lecturer in education at King’s College, London, to justify its claim. But FullFact found that Dr Hodgen’s research indicated only “a slight decline in attainment over the 30 year period” although the number of pupils ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Rebecca Hanson: "I used Bostock and Chandler. We were told we couldn't do A-level in 1 year (and futher maths in upper 6th) because we'd spend two years inventing our own projects for GCSE rather than studying content. The fact that my school had ......"

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Janet Downs: England scores more highly in maths than other EU countries, says new report

England’s achievement in international maths tests shows that English pupils score “significantly higher” than the average in EU countries which took part in the tests. So says Eurydice, the European Commission’s education research network, in its recent report. Eurydice made several recommendations about effective teaching of maths in Europe: 1 Use achievement targets to motivate lower-performing pupils thereby increasing their scores. 2 Use ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Adrian - I couldn't check the Times because it's behind a paywall and I'm not a subscriber. The professional magazine, t'espro, inserted in TES (20 Jan 2012) carried several pages of positive comment including an editorial. Unfortunately, neither ......"

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Rebecca Hanson: Read freedom in schools lies with professional reform to Ofsted

Brought up to be exceptionally politically aware regarding the economics of education and holistic structure of state education. A frontline teacher in schools with tough cohorts for 11 years. A head of maths at a school which successfully came out of special measures despite the intervention. 'Academyised' under labour. That was sane. Not. An expert in cybermedia and especially online mass discussion. Currently lecturing, campaigning ... read more and comment →

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Janet Downs: Those pesky PISA figures – Full Fact Org article gets response from DfE

Controversy over Mr Gove’s use of the discounted OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2000 UK results rumbles on. The Department for Education has responded to an article by Full Fact Org about the contentious data being quoted in Ms Vorderman’s Maths report. The DfE response is included as an update at the foot of the Full Fact Org ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Typo alert: the UK PISA 2006 figure for Science is missing. It is 515. England, taken separately from the rest of the UK, scored 515 in Science in 2009, which is the same score achieved by the UK ......"

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Francis Gilbert: The state school Maths teacher who gives up his Saturday mornings to teach

I am excited about my son going to his secondary school in September. We had the first of a few transfer meetings this Thursday and met an inspiring young maths teacher who told us that he gives up his Saturday mornings to work with GCSE students who are scoring E and F grades in order to bring them up to ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Finland is one of the highest scoring countries in the OECD PISA education league tables. Yet their pupils spend less time in the classroom than children in other countries. When teachers are not teaching they are assessing, evaluating and ......"

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Paul Hopkins: Lies, damned lies, statistics and Tory MPs

In a letter from a Tory MP recently in reply to questions about the EB was the statement "less than fifteen per cent of those eligible to take geography [GCSE] did so". So, I wondered about this and where this 15% of those came from. Using the Maths entries for 2010 as a benchmark of total entries, since just about everyone ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Adrian Elliott: "The problem is that so many of these statistical untruths become part of a received wisdom which is constantly disseminated across all parts of the media. My 'favourite' is the claim that 20% or so of primary school children leave ......"

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Jonny Walker: How compulsory should English and Maths be?

I saw earlier this week some of the findings made by Alison Wolf, Professor of Public Sector Management at King's College London, in her review on vocational education. "We have told young people in the UK that [non-GCSE qualifications] are equivalent to GCSEs in English and maths and when they arrive at college they have discovered they aren't. It is immoral." ... read more and comment →

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Latest comment by Jonny Walker: "Thanks for this - I am aware having read a few more of the other Views on the site this morning that I am the one person who is treating LSN as a collectivist Agony Aunt - I will strive ......"

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