There is “widespread dissatisfaction” among maths teachers over a lack of subject-specific training, a review by the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) has found.
The shortfall is caused by senior leaders in schools and trusts often prioritising “generic learning over other priorities”, according to the review.
And the EEF findings suggest that, while there is a variety of maths teacher professional development on offer, there are “notable absences” such as subject-specific coaching models and CPD focused on metacognition in the context of maths.
The findings come amid an increased focus on maths from both main political parties and after Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer last year announced plans to work with schools to deliver “teacher training entitlement”.
The current government unveiled its maths-to-18 plan in 2023, while Labour has pledged to upskill primary school teachers to teach “real world” maths.
The review states that subject-specific professional development “is crucial for raising the quality of teaching”.
But it finds a lack of “national guidance on the balance of subject-specific professional development as distinct from generic professional development”.
The findings also suggest that “whole-department models for professional development may be more implementable than those focused on individual teachers”.
Use of technology could lead to ‘challenges of equity’
The review, which brought together findings from a survey of 330 maths subject leads and focus group workshops with maths subject leads recruited from social media, also looked at the use of homework.
More than half of the survey respondents used homework to consolidate learning.
But the review warned that requiring students to use technology for homework “may present challenges of equity” for disadvantaged students.
It might be worth exploring “interventions that involve different forms of homework to support disadvantaged students to consolidate their learning”, the researchers suggest.
Just over half of those surveyed (51 per cent) used maths-specific software platforms weekly to consolidate learning, while almost 59 per cent used department- or teacher-generated exercises.
Need for ‘maths transition’
The EEF also said that “maths transition practices” from key stage 2 to key stage 3 are “crucial for education”, amid evidence of a “falling or plateauing in attainment following the transition from primary to secondary school”.
The findings echo previous studies that have highlighted problems with maths attainment in the Year 7 transition, particularly among disadvantaged students.
The EEF review also highlighted previous research that found many schools place highly qualified teachers in “high-stakes classes”, such as those preparing for exams - which can leave younger pupils and low attainers “without specialist teachers”.
Research has previously suggested that almost half of secondary schools are using non-specialist teachers for maths lessons.
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