Focus on mathematics/pāngarau
Higher achievement in mathematics/pāngarau: a future state description – what could be 5 years on and what this will take
In five years time we want widespread action and
engagement on mathematics/pāngarau teaching and
learning
Teachers
•Are focused on, and supported to, develop their
mathematics/pāngarau pedagogy and content knowledge
•Those with high levels of expertise in teaching and knowledge of
mathematics/pāngarau are well-utilised across Communities of Schools
and Communities of Learning
•All initial teacher education students have a minimum of NCEA Level 2
mathematics on entry to their programme
•Education leaders support the growth of the mathematics/pāngarau
pedagogy and content knowledge of their teachers. They are confident
and able to engage with the instructional core of
mathematics/pāngarau
Students
•Many report confidence in, and have positive attitudes to, learning
mathematics/pāngarau and are seeking opportunities and directing
their own learning
•Early learners and new entrants are accessing mathematics/pāngarau
developmental competency programmes as needed
•We are tracking the proportion of Years 9 and 10 students achieving
numeracy credits for NCEA, with lead indicators suggesting we are on
track
Parents
•Have good levels of awareness about the importance of
mathematics/pāngarau, positive attitudes, and increasing knowledge
and understanding to support their child's learning
•Have a clear understanding of their child's mathematics/
pāngarau achievement and learning progress
Achieve this through key elements of the Education
Work Programme and building a breadth and depth of
concerted activity year on year
Next steps required to make this happen
For example:
• Focus on valued student outcomes
• Clear, high expectations: all learners performing at the
expected National Standard (Years 1 - 8) and reaching Curriculum Level
5 by the end of Year 10
• Leaders lead and embed systemic change
• IES is utilised to achieve a system shift
• All responses informed by disciplined inquiry underpinned by
Assessment for Learning
• Interventions have graduated targeting
• Specialised support is provided at transition points
Investing in Educational Success: Provides the infrastructure to use and
share teacher expertise where it's needed most. We expect many
Communities of Schools (CoS) to identify maths as an achievement
challenge
Professional Learning and Development (PLD) changes:
Mathematics/pāngarau is a national priority. PLD contributes to the
building of expertise (both pedagogy and content) that schools/CoS
identify they need
The Education Council: When established has the authority to set
mathematics standards for entry to initial teacher education and to
promulgate tools to assess this
Achievement information improvements so that:
• Parents can access information about their child's
mathematics/pāngarau achievement and progress
•Communities can access information about their students' mathematics
/pāngarau achievement and progress
•Leaders use information about student achievement at the school and
community level
Modern teaching and learning practice: Supporting teachers and
students to use technology, grounded in sound pedagogy, to assist with
effective mathematics /pāngarau learning
Adopt principles to guide the mathematics/pāngarau work and
engagement:
Build consensus and action
• Engage with the community and the sector on the development of
a Plan
• Build understanding of the challenge, and consensus on the response
• Concerted actions that create the conditions for success at the
system level
Continue to develop the evidence base and share what we know
• We continue to publish up-to-date evidence and data on
educationcounts.govt.nz.
•The most recent releases are the National Monitoring Study of Student
Achievement (NMSSA) report on Mathematics and Statistics and the
Natonal Standards School Sampling Monitoring and Evaluation
(NSSSME) report.
Contextual information – what we know about mathematics/pāngarau and work already underway
Student achievement in mathematics
Teacher and student knowledge and confidence
Teaching and learning in mathematics
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We have very good evidence about what leads to effective
mathematics teaching and learning. But putting this together in the
classroom and making it possible across the system is challenging
and complex.
Mathematics achievement has been an area of concern for some
time. It has declined since 2002/3.
Teacher confidence in maths is mixed.
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TIMSS reports that at year five:
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o
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around three quarters of students have teachers who
feel very confident in answering their students’ maths
questions
just over one-half of New Zealand students (51%) had
teachers who felt very confident to provide challenging
tasks for capable students
What teachers know how to do and know about maths matters.
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NMSSA shows that teachers have high confidence in teaching
mathematics and statistics.
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We do know that in our classrooms, the maths curriculum is not being
covered as intended. Our achievement in some strands is below the
international average.
Teachers’ higher levels of subject content knowledge is
linked to higher levels of student achievement in
mathematics, but this needs to be supported by pedagogical
knowledge
Subject knowledge of teachers in mathematics is particularly
challenging, and teachers need to be adequately supported
to address these issues.
Source: PISA 2012
Build on what has already started
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We have put some things in place to lift student achievement in
mathematics/pangarau.
International studies and national data provide clear evidence
that we have a serious achievement challenge in mathematics.
The most recent data and insight comes from the National
Monitoring Study of Student Achievement 2013 (NMSSA) report
on Mathematics and Statistics.
Professional learning opportunities and programmes for students:
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NMSSA tells us that:
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the majority of year 8 students were achieving below curriculum
expectations in mathematics.
most Year 4 students were achieving in-line with curriculum
expectations
We know that many primary school students are not making enough
year-on-year progress to achieve the expectations of the
mathematics curriculum.
Source: PISA 2012
Student confidence and knowledge also appears problematic.
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Teachers of year 5 students indicated that their ability to teach
maths was sometimes limited by students’ lack of sufficient
prerequisite mathematical knowledge and skills.
TIMSS reported that fewer NZ middle primary students were
confident in their ability to do mathematics compared with
many other countries.
New Zealand students’ confidence and perception of
themselves as learners of maths had a strong relationship with
their achievement.
around $7.4 million is invested in 2014/15 for professional
learning and development in mathematics, with the bulk going
into teachers of years 1-8 in 116 schools
$7.7 million was invested over 4 years (from 2013/14) to
expand:
 Accelerated Learning in Mathematics: focuses on
monitoring student achievement and supporting schools to
develop short and long term approaches to respond to
student achievement
 Communities of Mathematical Inquiry (DCMI): a
pedagogical strategy aimed to develop students’ skills of
explanation, argumentation and justification through
communities of inquiry
These provide contexts for continuous improvement, providing rich
and deep knowledge about what works, when and how. They can
inform broader system changes.
IES provides opportunities to grow and share maths expertise
across the system, and mechanisms for CoS to identify their maths
achievement challenges and be supported to address them.