Research School Network: Improving KS2 and KS3 Mathematics – key take-aways Looking at recommendations 1, 2 and 3

by Guy Carpenter, Evidence Lead

With the release of the updated EEF Guidance Report for Improving KS2 and KS3 Mathematics for 2022, it’s important that we revisit the main active ingredients of each of the recommendations from the original document in 2017.

In this blog we explore some key things to consider when implementing recommendations 1 – 3.

Recommendation 1
Use assessment to build on pupils prior learning

• Identify the purpose of the assessment
• Use a range of formative assessment as a powerful diagnostic tool
• Collaboratively plan for and expose misconceptions through formative assessment
• Be forensic in how you interpret summative assessment – does it tell you everything? What doesn’t it tell you?
• Ensure that learners are using a common language to ensure they understand the task, the content and can communicate their thoughts clearly

Recommendation 2
Use manipulatives and representations

• Know the difference between a manipulative and a representation
• Ensure that the chosen manipulative and representation effectively and efficiently exposes the mathematical structure needed for understanding
• Choose manipulatives and representations that are future proof and can be sequenced to build on their complexity
• Manipulatives and representations are for ALL pupils, but not all learners will need the manipulative and representations as tools to access concepts
• Manipulatives and representations are tools for scaffolding understanding.
  Have a strategy to allow removal of manipulatives and representations at appropriate points
• Follow the TREEC acronym for high quality modelling (Tangible, Representation, Effective, Efficient, Communicate)

Recommendation 3
Teach Pupils Strategies for Problem Solving

• Ensure problem solving activities have the purpose of modelling strategies for learners to use in unfamiliar situations
• Reduce cognitive load by simplify the problem, then build up knowledge in steps.
  Use metacognitive strategies to think ​‘out loud’ and talk about what you are doing and why you are doing it
• Compare learner strategies through discussion focusing on efficiency, effectiveness, and elegance. Why this method? Is it the ​‘best one’? If not, why not?
• Exemplify reading, summarising, and checking as a successful strategy for problem solving
• Encapsulate all the above through high quality Mathematical Talk using T.O.L.D model (Talk, Opportunities, Link, Debate)

The active ingredients that run through the first three recommendations are all focused on the choices we make as teachers, the purpose of the activities we choose and how this activates the learning of content and strategies that pupils can utilise in the future. 

Our current educational climate is a product of remote learning, school closures, and the reduction of opportunities to engage in high-quality discussion of maths. Teachers are talking about knowledge and how pupils can keep up with their peers. The way we do this is by generating opportunities for modelling the journey to expertise and not the expertise themselves, based on level forensic analysis through formative assessment, and high-quality teaching for ALL, using proven approaches linked to enactive knowledge.

Knowledge gained from the pupils’ environment, interacting and engaging through visible representations, and high-quality dialogue from teachers in their classroom, provides learners with tools to be independent, self-regulatory learners that can adapt, adjust, and evaluate the academic challenges that they face.