Trialing of MiC

Trialed with lower and middle groups in Year7 (grade 6) The focus was on Fractions, Decimals and Percentages. One unit of algebra but not completed by time of the evaluation I have extensive experience using materials in England

Evaluation Methodology Compare changes (added value) in profile of students from Year 6 to 7 using KS2 Maths Assessment taken in Year 6 and PIM in Year 7. Compare the profile of students from year 7 (2014) with MiC students in 2015 using a difficult test based around proportional reasoning Views of students and teachers via a questionnaire and interviews

Standarised Test Students did not work to the syllabus related to the standarised test Assessment is called Progress in Mathematics developed by NFER

CHHS All students (2014 versus 2015)

All students (2015) versus sets 2 and 3 (2015)

England’s Measure of progress Its supposed to be 2 sublevels but

Previous Attainment matters

MiC groups Added value for MiC groups was 3.5 sublevels

JGHS Scores in 2014 versus 2015

All versus set 2 (2015)

Set 3 versus set 2

MiC Added value from Year 6 to Year 7 for set 3 is about 2.4 sublevels Added value from Year 6 to 7 for students at level 3 or below is 3.1 sublevels

Baseline Test Proportional Reasoning Both Schools Questioncorrect Set 1% correct Set 2 % correct Set Mean score 44% 45% 14% 26% 5% 15%

Working Towards Essentially looking for some evidence that, although getting the question wrong, are showing evidence of understanding some of the concepts Question % Working towards Set 1 % Working towards Set 2 % Working towards Set % one part correct 33% one part correct

Working Towards Q1 Recognise that ¾ is greater than ½ and 1/3 is less than ½ Q2 Recognise dividing into 3 parts and/or 4m is four lengths Q6 Using the bar to gauge the answer Q10 Getting one part correct Q12 Recognise the need to divide into equal parts Q13 Recognise the need to add the tip to the bill

Examples of student solutions

Q 11 Set 2

Set 1

Set 2

Example Set 3

Set 3

Set 2

Students Views strongly agree strongly disagree I enjoyed using the Mathematics in Context books I think my understanding of maths has improved this year I like discussing maths in the classroom I like coming to the board to explain I think I learn a lot from others explaining I think we should continue to use Mathematics in Context next Year I think fraction bars and percentage bars help me understand the maths

You realise there is a different way of doing it to yours and it might be easier I wish you could see my year 6 maths book. I tore so many pages out and I kept writing “I hate maths” in the book One student said “maths is all around us” and showed me a packet of potato chips to illustrate his points. The other students agreed enthusiastically that he was right and that understanding mathematics was therefore really important.

Positives from Observations Teachers are far more interactive Students tend to buy into contexts Greater sense that teachers are aware of students thinking Many students like talking about their thinking The set 3 teachers were really disappointed with the test results!

Issues from Observations Still a desire to formalise Still a desire to push the content too far Teachers still need to develop some interactive and organisational skills (tell me what he said? what do you think about that?, students working in groups before whole class) Teachers miss some “obvious” opportunities Recognise when to move on. Teachers tend to overdo the whole class discussion

Perhaps the hardest aspect of this is recognising that what students learn in a lesson is not a predictor of what they will know in a few weeks. So teachers tend to be over-optimistic about the outcomes Related to the above, what students know in a particular context does not transfer to more formal situations easily

Next Year Continue with MiC into Year 8 with current students Continue with MiC with lower and middle Year 7 students but introduce a whole number module for set 3 Introduce MiC algebra and area and volume for top set Year 7 Trial MiC for Year 7 in Cayman Brac