Mathematical Attainment Research Articles

A Quantitative Study of Mathematics Identity and Achievement among LatinX Secondary School Students

ABSTRACT Using data from the National Center of Educational Statistics’ (NCES) 2009 High School Longitudinal Study, this article studies the relationship between mathematics identity and mathematics success for LatinX students by relying on critical race theory and intersectionality as theoretical frameworks. The quantitative analysis relies on hierarchical regression modeling to examine the relative impact of demographic variables, school characteristics, parents social capital, and parental involvement on the mathematics grade point averages at the conclusion of 11th grade of a national sample of LatinX students. The article concludes with a discussion of the ways in which we as educators, policy makers, and researchers can work toward supporting positive mathematics identity development and, by extension, mathematical attainment and success for LatinX students. Specifically, the article discusses ways in which the experiences, cultures and abilities of these students can be acknowledged, celebrated, and built upon.

School closures and educational attainment in Ethiopia: Can extra classes help children to catch up?

AbstractSchool closures impact children's attainment adversely, but understanding the effects of closures on children's attainment in lower‐income countries is still limited. Addressing this deficit, this study examines how past school closures have impacted children's educational attainment in Ethiopia. The study uses individual student‐level data from the Young Lives School Survey and standardised test scores in mathematics and language recorded at the start and end of the school year to model children's attainment. Multiple regression with propensity score matching is used to analyse how attainment over the school year is impacted by school closures for a matched sub‐sample of 4842 students. The effectiveness of additional classes to make up for lost learning is also evaluated. Past school closures have had a detrimental effect on attainment in mathematics, but not literacy. Extra classes, specifically those that families do not pay for, have helped children in the past to recuperate lost learning and could serve this function post‐Covid‐19. Inequalities in learning outcomes, measured by Gini coefficients in educational attainment, are widened by school closures. Applying these results to the extensive school closures under Covid‐19 furthers our understanding of the likely effects on academic attainment and can inform policy to mitigate the impact.

Primary Preservice Teachers’ Mathematics Teaching Efficacy Beliefs: the Role Played by Mathematics Attainment, Educational Level, Preparedness to Teach, and Gender

This paper reports on research which explored the mathematics teaching efficacy beliefs of preservice primary teachers, where efficacy beliefs describe individuals’ beliefs in their potential to enact teaching to promote learning. Efficacy was conceptualised as a bi-faceted construct consisting of personal efficacy and outcome expectancy. This research sought to establish the extent to which differences in efficacy are explained by students’ mathematics attainment level prior to entry into teacher education; the educational level of the students (whether postgraduate or undergraduate); students’ sense of preparedness to teach mathematics on school placement; and students’ gender. A total of 186 students responded to a questionnaire designed to measure their efficacy beliefs after completing one taught mathematics education module in university and one teaching practice placement in primary schools. Bivariate and regression analysis pointed to complex relationships between the explanatory and outcome variables. On bivariate analysis, findings included statistically significant associations between gender, mathematics attainment, preparedness to teach, and one or both of personal efficacy and outcome expectancy. In the regression analysis, gender was statistically significantly associated with outcome expectancy, while preparedness to teach and mathematics attainment were statistically significantly correlated with personal efficacy. Personal efficacy and outcome expectancy were significantly correlated on bivariate analysis, but significance was not retained after controlling for other factors in the regression models. This research has implications for teacher educators in understanding factors explaining mathematics teaching efficacy and therefore helping to better prepare preservice teachers to teach mathematics in the primary school classroom.

Gender differences in mathematics achievement: A secondary analysis of Programme for International Student Assessment data from Shanghai

As mathematics has been seen for decades as a stereotyped male domain, gender differences in mathematics learning have received strong attention from the public and academia. In China, the issue of gender equity in education is a particularly interesting topic to most families with the implementation of the one-child policy since the late 1970s. This study aims to study in more depth the role of gender on Shanghai students’ mathematics attainment from a perspective of three societal factors (i.e., one-child status at home, socioeconomic status, and school types) via a secondary analysis of the Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 Shanghai–China mathematics data. In contrast to the official report by Programme for International Student Assessment on Shanghai–China and in line with own previous studies, the current analyses reveal that 15-year-old students in Shanghai performed significantly different on two content-related subscales (i.e., change and relationships and quantity) and two processes-related subscales (i.e., formulate and interpret). Furthermore, significant gender differences were found with students from one-child families but not multi-children families. Among schools of different types in terms of academic tracks and performance levels, the gender differences were largest in the more selective model (general) schools and then vocational schools followed by ordinary (general) schools. Given the nested structure of the Programme for International Student Assessment data, this study found that, on average, a Shanghai boy would achieve significantly higher marks than a girl in Programme for International Student Assessment 2012 mathematics test. The paper closes with discussions on societal and educational implications about these gender disparities, which are still apparent in the current school system of Shanghai.

Sensorimotor ability and inhibitory control independently predict attainment in mathematics in children and adolescents.

We previously linked interceptive timing performance to mathematics attainment in 5- to 11-yr-old children, which we attributed to the neural overlap between spatiotemporal and numerical operations. This explanation implies that the relationship should persist through the teenage years. Here, we replicated this finding in adolescents (n = 200, 11-15 yr). However, an alternative explanation is that sensorimotor proficiency and academic attainment are both consequences of executive function. To assess this competing hypothesis, we developed a measure of a core executive function, inhibitory control, from the kinematic data. We combined our new adolescent data with the original children's data (total n = 568), performing a novel analysis controlling for our marker of executive function. We found that the relationship between mathematics and interceptive timing persisted at all ages. These results suggest a distinct functional link between interceptive timing and mathematics that operates independently of our measure of executive function.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Previous research downplays the role of sensorimotor skills in the development of higher-order cognitive domains such as mathematics: using inadequate sensorimotor measures, differences in "executive function" account for any shared variance. Utilizing a high-resolution, kinematic measure of a sensorimotor skill previously linked to mathematics attainment, we show that inhibitory control alone cannot account for this relationship. The practical implication is that the development of children's sensorimotor skills must be considered in their intellectual development.

Students’ collaboration in technology-enhanced reciprocal peer tutoring as an approach towards learning mathematics

Technology-enhanced Reciprocal Peer Tutoring (RPT) was carried out with Finnish, nine to ten year-old primary school students (N=40). The RPT as a method of paired mathematics placed specific emphasis on electrical mathematical writing and drawing. Little is known about the important area of implementing digital mathematical skills at the primary level. The contribution of this study is to address the research gap in implementing Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) into primary school students’ digital mathematics learning. Data was collected from one primary school mathematics lessons by videotaping student’s peer collaboration. In this empirical educational study, the data was analysed qualitatively with content analysis and quantified based on the Contact Summary Sheet (CSS)-instrument and TPACK -framework. This work sheds a light on how students’ collaboration such as instruction, thinking aloud, feedback, support and new ideas during their peer tutoring arouse students’ mathematical attainment and technological discourse. The results indicate that all dimensions of TPACK emerged during primary school students Technology-enhanced RPT. Data reveals that there was a high degree of PK in all videotaped episodes. More research on RPT with an empirical electrical mathematical focus is needed.

Neuropsychological abilities underpinning academic attainment in children born extremely preterm

ABSTRACT Children born extremely preterm (EP) have poorer academic attainment than their term-born peers. There is a need to identify the specific cognitive mechanisms that are associated with poor academic attainment in preterm populations to inform the development of intervention strategies. A parallel mediation analysis was conducted with cross-sectional data from 152 EP children (< 27 weeks of gestation) and 120 term-born controls who were assessed at age 11. Mathematics and reading attainment was assessed using the Wechsler Individual Achievement Test 2nd Edition. Controlling for sex and socio-economic status we evaluated the following mediators: verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory, verbal processing speed, attention, and visuospatial processing. These were assessed using subtests from the standardized NEPSY-II test and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-5th Edition. Verbal working memory, visuospatial working memory, visuospatial processing and verbal processing speed, but not attention, were significant independent mediators between EP birth and attainment in reading. No direct relationship between EP birth and reading attainment remained in the mediated model. All five neuropsychological variables mediated the relationship between EP birth and attainment in mathematics, but a direct effect of EP birth on mathematics remained in the mediated model. Together, all five neuropsychological abilities indirectly explained 44% of the variance in reading and 52% of the variance in mathematics. Visuospatial processing was the strongest mediator of both mathematics and reading. Components of executive function, especially visuospatial processing, are important predictors of academic attainment. Interventions to improve visuospatial skills could be trialed in EP populations.

Using School-Level Data to Investigate the Impact of a One-to-One Mathematics Teaching Resource in English Primary Schools

This research investigates the potential for a one-to-one coaching tool used by adults other than teachers to be able to deliver greater mathematics progress for primary school children without adding significantly to school costs. Plus 1 and Power of 2 (+1 and Po2) are workbooks designed to be used by adults other than teachers working on a one-to-one basis with children to develop numeracy skills. This quantitative study seeks to examine the impact of +1 and Po2 by considering performance data aggregated at the school level. The attainment of children at 1071 English schools which use the +1 and Po2 products was compared with that of peers in other schools using a quasi-experimental research design based on England’s national performance measures. Statistical analysis suggests that schools using +1 and Po2 show higher levels of mathematics attainment than those who may have used other resources. Furthermore, there is an important finding that assessment attendance is higher, and disapplication from the curriculum lower, in schools using +1 and Po2. This indicates that use of this one-to-one intervention improves access to national tests for children and represents an opportunity for school leaders to maximise the cost effectiveness of existing non-teaching staff or volunteers.

Investigating the Impact of a Mathematics Enhancement Programme on Jamaican Students’ Attainment

Underperformance in mathematics has been an issue that plagues the education system in Jamaica. Studies in first world countries have shown that enrichment programs, including Mathematics Enhancement Programmes (MEPs,) have been positively impacting attainment in mathematics. This quasi-experimental research design study investigated the impact of an MEP on Jamaican students’ attainment in mathematics. A sample of seven grade one classes from two primary schools in representative areas in Jamaica were selected for the intervention group. The treatment involved teaching the Jamaican grade one mathematics standards using the MEP resources for nine months. A statistically significant improvement and large effect size of the intervention was found, indicating that the MEP had a substantial impact on students’ achievement and attitudes towards mathematics. This study has implications for designing enrichment programs geared at addressing mathematics underperformance in Jamaica and in similar countries.

Low attainment in mathematics: An analysis of 60 years of policy discourse in England

AbstractThe problem of low attainment in mathematics has been an increasingly prominent feature of the policy discourse in England over the last 60 years; however, evidence from comparative studies indicates that little progress has been made in finding a solution. In this paper, we analyse the changing policy discourse of low attainment in mathematics through the main reports and speeches published in England, beginning with the Newsom Report, Half Our Future, in 1963, and continuing to the present day. We chart the evolving perspectives on the nature of ability, expectations, curriculum ideology and frame of reference through the changing language used in these documents, noting tensions and inconsistencies which arise through continuing lack of clarity about definitions and assumptions.

Effects of Gender on Basic Numerical and Arithmetic Skills: Pilot Data From Third to Ninth Grade for a Large-Scale Online Dyscalculia Screener

In this study, we analyzed the development and effects of gender on basic number skills from third to ninth grade in Finland. Because the international comparison studies have shown slightly different developmental trends in mathematical attainment for different language groups in Finland, we added the language of education as a variable in our analysis. Participants were 4,265 students from third to ninth grade in Finland, representing students in two national languages (Finnish, n = 2,833, and Swedish, n = 1,432). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that the subtasks in the dyscalculia screener formed two separate factors, namely, number-processing skills and arithmetic fluency. We found a linear development trend across age cohorts in both the factors. Reliability and validity evidence of the measures supported the use of these tasks in the whole age group from 9 to15 years. In this sample, there was an increasing gender difference in favor of girls and Swedish-speaking students by grade levels in number-processing skills. At the same time, boys showed a better performance and a larger variance in tasks measuring arithmetic fluency. The results indicate that the gender ratio within the group with mathematical learning disabilities depends directly on tasks used to measure their basic number skills.

The Gender Similarities Hypothesis: Insights From A Multilevel Analysis of High-Stakes Examination Results in Mathematics

The current study involved multilevel analysis of high-stakes examination results (i.e., GCSE) in Northern Ireland to investigate gender differentials in mathematical achievement, whereas most previous research in the area used results from low-stakes tests (i.e., PISA, TIMSS). The analysis supported the gender similarities hypothesis with respect to both overall and content domain-specific mathematical attainment. Similar conclusions were drawn from the current study as have been reported in studies into gender differentials using data from low-stakes assessments in the respective jurisdiction. This suggests that previously expressed concerns in the literature about the viability of using data derived from low-stakes assessments to accurately assess gender differentials in achievement may be unfounded. Furthermore, the context for the current study permitted an investigation into the effects of school type (grammar versus non-grammar) and gender on overall and domain-specific mathematical achievement, an area that has received scant attention in the literature. School type was not found to have an effect on the applicability of the gender similarities hypothesis with respect to mathematical achievement. The study findings are likely to prove useful to researchers and policymakers who are interested in gender equity issues in mathematics.

Mathematics curriculum waves within vocational education

ABSTRACT Links between mathematical attainment and economic performance, coupled with England’s poor showing in international comparisons of skills, have focussed attention on post-16 mathematics education, for example, in the UK Government’s 2017 Industrial Strategy. Whilst high-stakes academic qualifications at 16 (GCSE) and 18 (A-level) have stood the test of time, the ‘forgotten third’ of students in England’s Further Education colleges have fared less well. Over the last 30 years a series of mathematics qualifications for vocational students have been established and then discarded. This paper utilises a theory of change approach to understand this repeating pattern for three successive curricula: core, key and functional mathematics. Waves of rise and decline include critical moments of reinforcement, or synergy with wider reforms, but trajectories are also affected by shifting policy visions for Further Education and entrenched knowledge hierarchies that value academic mathematics qualifications over vocational ones. Whether ‘alternative’ mathematics curricula for FE students can achieve longevity and widespread recognition remains to be seen. The implications from this analysis of historical trajectories are that changes to established attitudes and educational values are needed to halt this repeated cycle of short-lived alternatives to GCSE Mathematics.

Mathematical media literacy in the COVID-19 pandemic and its relation to school mathematics education.

In the first months of 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic became a top concern worldwide, media coverage became full of information that demands mathematical literacy, or numeracy, to interpret. In this study, we examine the public’s understanding of mathematical notions that are required for understanding the pandemic and predicting its spread. We also explore its correlations with several variables: age group and gender, educational attainment in mathematics, and mathematics identity. To do so, we conducted a cross-sectional survey focusing on mathematical knowledge relevant to the pandemic. The survey was distributed to a representative sample of the Jewish Israeli population (n = 439). Findings showed that participants’ educational attainment in mathematics was positively correlated with their success in the mathematical media literacy tasks. However, even those with high attainment levels did not always perform well. Moreover, the explanatory variable with the strongest relationship to mathematical media literacy was found to be participants’ mathematical identity. These results suggest that school mathematics, especially in its high levels, may prepare adults to understand critical information important for their well-being, such as at a time of global pandemic. However, they also demonstrate that a weak mathematical identity may significantly hinder adults’ engagement with such information.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10649-021-10075-8.

Mathletics software and student attainment in grade 4- a cultural historical analysis

Mathletics is a networked mathematics software package that affords students the opportunity to solve problems. This software is extremely popular in the developed world (Day, 2013) and is gaining popularity in the developing world as a tool that can potentially impact students’ mathematics attainment. 25 years after democracy South Africa continues to lag behind the rest of the world in mathematics and science attainment (Isdale, Reddy, Juan &amp; Arends, 2017). The use of computer-based software packages to meet the needs of developing students’ understanding of mathematics is, therefore, of interest in our context. However, research is clear that it is not technology itself that can lead to learning but rather, how this technology is used; that is, the pedagogical practices underpinning the use of technology serves to develop understanding. This study sought to investigate Mathletics ability to impact positively on student attainment as well as their understanding. Findings indicated that Mathletics software does not build mediation into its programme and, therefore, does not develop conceptual understanding. In relation to student’s attainment, findings indicated that children did not perform better after using Mathletics on a summative test of calculation problems, pointing to the importance of pedagogical underpinnings when using technology.

“Look at them! They all have friends and not me”: the role of peer relationships in schooling from the perspective of primary children designated as “lower-attaining”

ABSTRACT This paper explores the peer relationship experiences of 23 primary-school children who had been designated as “lower-attaining”. It is written against the backdrop of the mental health crisis among young people in Britain. Using John Macmurray’s principles of equality and freedom as underpinning positive personal relationships, it investigates how “lower-attaining” children experience their peer relationships in a climate where attainment in mathematics and English is politically prioritised over the nurturing of positive relationships. We drew on the recent literature pertaining to peer relationships in general; and peer relationships among “lower-attainers” in particular. We build on the assumption that positive personal relationships support creative learning and high attainment. Using 107 extended individual and paired/triad activity-interviews as well as lesson observations every term over six school terms, we carried out research in four sample primary-schools. Our findings illustrated the high value put on friendships by sample children, despite a strong emphasis in schooling on individual competition. The children described instances of feeling troubled by their relationships; and their “low-attainment” status appeared to be linked to some, if not many, of their troubles. They sometimes felt excluded from the main body of their classes due to emphasis on high-attainment. We conclude by proposing a greater emphasis on collaboration and the nurturing of relationships in schooling, which in turn could support these children’s creative learning and attainment.

Whole School SEND (WSS) Review: study protocol for a two-arm pragmatic parallel cluster randomised controlled trial in 160 English secondary schools

BackgroundThe trial will study the effects of the Whole School SEND Review on secondary school pupils in English mainstream education, to understand the impact of the intervention on academic attainment, wellbeing, and school attendance. The Review is designed to facilitate whole-school change through providing enhanced, intensive and sustained support and training in inclusive education for school special educational needs coordinators and leadership teams. The trial will have a specific focus on pupils designated as having special educational needs or disabilities.MethodsWe recruited 160 English secondary schools (approx. 58,000 pupils across two cohorts) to a two-arm pragmatic parallel cluster randomised controlled trial, with allocation at the school level. Randomisation will be stratified by school region. The primary outcome is attainment in English language (using standardised national test results at 16 years) for pupils designated as having a special educational need (approx. 4000 pupils). Secondary outcomes will be measured for pupils both with and without a special educational need designation and include pupil wellbeing (measured using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire), absences and exclusions, and attainment in Mathematics and English language at 16 years. The intervention will be implemented from July 2021 and analysis of outcomes (for the year 9 cohort) will take place in September 2023, with further analysis (for the year 8 cohort) in September 2024 if the evaluation shows that acceptable implementation fidelity has been achieved.DiscussionPupils with special educational needs represent a significant and often vulnerable part of the secondary school population, are disproportionately likely to be excluded from school, eligible for free school meals, or supported by children’s social care. Despite these multiple important areas of need, school leaders report substantial challenges in making additional provision for this group. Previous research has highlighted the development of inclusive school cultures (rather focusing primarily on targeted individualised approaches) as being important. This trial will investigate how an intervention designed to drive whole school change may lead to outcomes for pupils with and without a special educational needs designation. As such, this trial is expected to make an important contribution to research evidence and to UK educational policy.Trial registrationISRCTN registry ISRCTN11339306. Registered on 12 March 2020 (retrospectively registered).

Networked Analysis of a Teaching Unit for Primary School Symmetries in the Form of an E-Book

In mathematics education, technology offers many opportunities to enrich curricular contents. Plane symmetries is a topic often skipped by primary teachers. However, it is important and may be worked in attractive ways in dynamic geometry software environments. In any regular classroom there are students with different levels of mathematical attainment, some needing easy tasks while others, particularly mathematically-gifted students, need challenging problems. We present a teaching unit for plane symmetries, adequate for upper primary school grades, implemented in a fully interactive electronic book, with most activities solved in GeoGebra apps. The book allows student to choose which itinerary to follow and attention is paid to different levels of students’ mathematical attainment. The research objective of the paper is to make a networked analysis of the structure and contents of the teaching unit based on the Van Hiele levels of mathematical reasoning and the levels of cognitive demand in mathematical problem solving. The analysis shows the interest of networking both theories, the suitability of the teaching unit, as the Van Hiele levels and the cognitive demand of the activities increases, and its usefulness to fit the needs of each student, from low attainers to mathematically-gifted students.

Why are boys falling behind? Explaining gender gaps in school attainment in Sri Lanka

• Attainment in school and enrollment in post-compulsory education are lower for males compared to females in Sri Lanka. • Implicit biases favour girls with parental aspirations and teacher attitudes higher for girls than boys. • Gaps in maths scores at age 12 are explained by differences in returns to endowments rather than differences in endowments. • Earnings foregone are more significant in males’ decision to enroll compared to females’, even when controlled for wealth. • Positive discrimination of males in the labour market may explain poor attainment at the school level. An increasingly common trend in developed countries and middle income countries such as Thailand, South Africa, Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka is that females outperform males in terms of attainment at school and enrollment in higher education, on average. Surprisingly, in countries such as Sri Lanka and Thailand, households also seem to allocate significantly higher resources towards girls’ education rather than boys’ (Himaz, 2010; Wongmonta & Glewwe, 2017). This paper looks at attainment in mathematics among a sample of 12 year olds in Sri Lanka and uses decomposition analysis to see to what extent parental aspirations and teacher attitudes, inter alia , can explain gender differentials disfavoring boys. The paper finds that although teacher attitudes and parental aspirations are significantly lower for boys, these factors -as we measure them- do not sufficiently explain the attainment gap. Much of the gap remains ‘unexplained’ and is due to differences in returns to endowments. The paper argues that positive discrimination of men in the labor market and bottle necks in higher-education may be important in understanding the unexplained component. This emphasizes the need to look beyond school level interventions to address the issue of gender imbalances in attainment.

Gender differences in mathematics outcomes at different levels of locality to inform policy and practice

This paper reports research into the relationship between personal and contextual variables and gendered differences in students’ attainment in mathematics that take account of ‘place’ at different levels of intra-national locality (i.e. regional and macro-geographical levels, within the same country). A multilevel analysis performed on secondary data collected in Italy, where on average boys outperform girls in mathematics, showed that gender differences at local levels are complex and nuanced and not always consistent with the national picture. Moreover, gender differences in mathematics are associated with socio-cultural and economic factors that vary by region. We argue that educational research focusing on national and international level findings (such as for example PISA) should explore the association between gender differences in mathematics and sub-national socio-cultural and economic contexts in order to adequately inform policy and practice. Finally, we suggest that European researchers of inequality may need to attend to regionality and localities of place, and that the principle of subsidiarity could imply that policy and practice be devolved to the levels that research proves to be relevant.