THE IMPACT OF THE NATIONAL NUMERACY STRATEGY IN YEAR 4 (I): ATTAINMENTAND LEARNING

Abstract

The Nuffield Year 4 project set out to examine selected aspects of the impact of the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in primary schools by using comparable data collected from 35 schools in 1997/98 and 2001/02 as part of the Leverhulme Numeracy Research Programme. In this first paper we report on changes in attainment using a specially designed test of numeracy administered in October and June. While numeracy attainment rose during the period of the introduction of the NNS, the effect was small and it varied in relation to different aspects of the curriculum. The results of low attainers fell on average, as did results in over a third of schools. The amount of progress made over Year 4 was similar in 2001/02 and in 1997/98. Reasons for these changes are explored.