maths snapshots: maths education policy - royal society/media/policy/publications/2014/maths... ·...
Post on 03-May-2018
216 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
Snapshotsmaths
DECEMBER 2014
•Developaclear,sharedvisionformathseducationthroughtheimplementationofalong-termstrategy.
•Ensurethatreformsaretransparentandinvolveawiderangeofsubjectexperts.
•Buildintimeforplanning,pilotingandevaluation.
Mathseducationpolicy
Providingaworldclassmathseducationtoallyoungpeopleisofvitalimportanceforourfuture.Policyreformsshouldbe:
• carefullycoordinatedatallstagesofgeneration,developmentandimplementation
• welldesigned,withadequatetimeforplanning,pilotingandevaluation
• transparentandoverseenbyanauthoritativeandexpertstandingbodywithabroadmandate.
Wherearewenow?
Thereiswidespreadrecognitionoftheimportanceofmathseducation.
•MathseducationinEnglandisundergoingconsiderablechange.
•AnewNationalCurriculumstartedin2014;newGCSEMathscommencesin2015;AS/AlevelMathsandFurtherMathswillbeintroducedin2017;newpost-16‘CoreMaths’qualificationswillberolledoutfrom2015.
•Otherreformsincludechangestoschoolandcollegefundingandthestructureofteachereducation.
•Somereformsarebeingintroducedrapidlyandmaylackcoherence,forexampleGCSEandAlevelMathsreformtimescalesarewidelythoughttohavebeenrushed.
Theeducationlandscapeisshifting.
•TheDepartmentforEducation(DfE)andtheDepartmentforBusiness,InnovationandSkills(BIS),andtheiragenciesareresponsiblefordifferentaspectsoflearningandteaching.
•Duringcurriculumandqualificationreforminrecentyears,governmentagencies,awardingorganisationsandindividualexpertshavebeeninvolvedinreformprocesses.Notallreformprocesseshavebeentransparent.(1)
•Therehasbeenasignificantshiftto‘localautonomy’(2),whichisleadingtoareconfigurationofexpertise,responsibilityandaccountability.‘Localautonomy’issometimesgeographical,asisthecasewiththeMathsHubsformathsprofessionaldevelopment(3),andsometimesvirtual,aswithacademychains.
Year
2014
CurriculumandQualifications
NationalCurriculumCoreMaths(earlyadopters)
2016
2017
2015
GCSEsciences
AlevelMathsandFurtherMaths
GCSEMathsCoreMathsAlevelsciences
Whatarethechallenges?
Thereisamismatchbetweenpoliticaltimescalesandwhatisneededforimprovingmathseducation.
•AtypicalmathseducationinEnglandlastsfrom5-18.
Rapidandextensivepolicychangemakessustained
improvementsineducationverydifficult.
•Coherenteducationreformrequirestimescalesthat
areconsiderablylongerthantheelectoralcyclethat
influencespoliticaltimescales.
•Thereiscurrentlynoongoingsystemofevaluation,
monitoringandrevisionofthecurriculum,ashappen
inmanyothercountries.(4)
Gettingcoherenceinpolicyreformischallenging.
•Processesofpolicyadvisingandinfluencingarealways
changingandhavenotalwaysbeentransparent.(1)
Commercialawardingorganisationshavebeenclosely
involvedinrecentqualificationreform.
•Mathsreformcannotbelookedatinisolation,given
itsconnectionstoothersubjects,includingthe
sciencesandsocialsciences.
•Asmultipleorganisationsareresponsibleforpolicy
advice,enactmentandchange,thereneedstobe
joined-upthinking.Forexamplethe‘CoreMaths’
qualificationrequirescoordinationacrossthe
DepartmentforEducation,DepartmentforBusiness
InnovationandSkills,Ofqual,theNationalCollegefor
TeachingandLeadership,schools,universitiesetc..(5)
(SeeMathsSnapshot:Mathsforallto18.)
•Rapidpolicychangesmayaffectretentionrates
andleadtoalossinspecialistmathsteacher
educationexpertiseatatimewhenmoremaths
teachersareneeded.(SeeMathsSnapshot:
Teachersofmaths.)
Whatneedstohappen?
1.Aclear,sharedvisionformathseducationshouldbedevelopedwithanagreedlong-termstrategytorealisethisvision.
•Ahigh-level,well-articulatedvisionformathseducationprovidesaframeworkforpolicy.Avisionneedsawell-designedstrategythatcanguidecoherentimplementationofreforms.Theprocessofreformtorealisethevisionneedscontinuousmonitoring.(6)
2.Reformsshouldbetransparentandledbyanauthoritativeandexpertbody.
•Anauthoritativeandexpertbodywithalong-termremitshouldbeestablishedwithabroadmandatetoincludereviewingthecurriculumandqualificationsinmaths,advisingonreformanddevelopingavisionformathseducation.
• Awiderangeofsubjectexpertswithexperienceacrossallphasesofeducationneedstobeinvolvedinthisstandingbody;theirselectionandinvolvementshouldbetransparent.
3.Reformsneedtobewelldesignedtoincludetimeforplanning,pilotingandevaluation.
•Changesshouldbeinformedbyrelevantevidence,incorporatepilotingwhereappropriate,andberobustlyevaluated.
•Fullreviewsofcurriculumandqualificationsshouldbeundertakeninfrequently,perhapsevery10yearsasisthecaseinhigh-performingjurisdictions.(4)Thiswouldpromotestabilityforteachersandlearners,andreducenegativeeffectsofconstantchange.(SeeMathsSnapshot:Mathscurriculum.)
1.http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/research/briefing-papers/SN06798/national-curriculum-review
2.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/175429/CM-7980.pdf
3.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/288817/DRAFT_Maths_hubs_guidance_doc_v10.pdf
4.https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184064/DFE-RR178.pdf
5.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/core-maths-qualifications-technical-guidance
6.https://royalsociety.org/~/media/education/policy/vision/reports/vision-full-report-20140625.pdf
Forfurtherinformationaboutthe
AdvisoryCommitteeonMathematicsEducation:
Tel:+44(0)2074512588email:acme@royalsociety.org
www.acme-uk.org @ACMEmaths
top related