East Asian teaching methods improve British pupils maths skills

The study evaluated 90 English primary schools and 50 secondaries where it was taught to more than 10,000 pupils in Year 1 (aged five-six) and Year 7 (11-12). After a year children’s maths test scores improved slightly. The programme differs from the mathematics curriculum in England as it covers fewer topic in greater depth and is designed to have a cumulative effect, with the full benefit evident after five years.

The study’s lead author John Jerrim of the UCL Institute of Education said: “Maths mastery shouldn’t be seen as a silver bullet; there is no escaping that the effect of the programme was relatively small, though welcome. Yet, given the low cost per pupil, it may nevertheless be a programme worth pursuing.

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: “Ensuring every young person leaves school with good maths and numeracy skills is a key part of our commitment to delivering real social justice. We are pleased this research confirms that adopting a Singaporean ‘mastery’ approach to teaching will help us to achieve this.”

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