Achieving new heights in Cumbria: Raising standards in early numeracy through mathematics recovery

Abstract

This article describes how standards in early numeracy were raised within Cumbria by the application of the Mathematics Recovery Programme. It reports data showing how children’s numeracy improved as a result of the programme, and describes effective elements of the in-service teacher training programme which was implemented. This work is an example of how teachers and educational psychologists can work together to develop and disseminate good practice in teaching, which is based on a sound theoretical and evidence base. Mathematics Recovery (MR) is an evolving, research-based programme which was first developed in the 1990s, in order to meet the needs of children who were not reaching age-related expectations for numeracy skills. There is an underlying model of how children acquire strategies and numerical knowledge, and an explicit set of principles of good teaching. The MR materials include short-term, intensive, individual teaching programmes, as well as group and class teaching. The paper reflects on the nature of ‘best practice in assessment for learning’ (DFES 2005b), which we argue is dynamic in character, in that the assessment is embedded in the teaching, with the assessor playing a mediating role, supporting the learner to construct and elaborate their own model of number. We show how Mathematics Recovery implements this approach to assessment and teaching, through the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes of short-term intervention. The paper concludes with some evidence of how the above has impacted on teachers’ professional development and changed classroom practice in Cumbria.