Mathematics: made to measure
May 2012, No. 110159
Secondary days: ready, get set, go – but how far?
163. A body of research has been conducted on the use of setting by attainment
in secondary mathematics. Some research points to the benefits being
restricted to the more-able pupils, with adverse effects on other pupils’
motivation and self-confidence, including some able girls. Few schools had
explored pupils’ views on learning mathematics including their thoughts on how
they are grouped or placed in sets and the demand of the mathematics they
learn.
164. Almost all the secondary schools visited placed pupils in sets for mathematics in
Years 8 to 11. A few had mixed-ability classes in Year 7, but the majority set
early in Year 7, sometimes after testing all the pupils as well as, or instead of,
using information from primary schools coupled with national test and teacher
assessment data. Heads of department frequently bemoaned the slow transfer
of assessment information from primary schools. They also commented about
the number of pupils who, when tested by the secondary school at the start of
Year 7, did not reach the levels they had been awarded in the Key Stage 2 test
and teacher assessments. (Parallel concerns have also been expressed
publically by those institutions admitting A-level and undergraduate pupils.) The
focus on ‘three levels of progress’ had increased the schools’ attention to pupils’
prior attainment, and they realised that any pupil who had reached Level 4 in
Year 6 would need to gain GCSE grade C to have made the expected three
levels of progress. While a difference in performance might relate, at least in
part, to the summer-holiday break from mathematics, it also raises questions
about how secure aspects of the pupil’s learning were in primary school.
165. To a large extent, the set a pupil is placed in determines the mathematics
he/she will encounter and potentially caps what he/she might attain. In Key
Stage 4, the set is often linked to a particular GCSE tier so, for instance, a
middle-attaining group might be prepared for the foundation tier, grades G to
C. The schools visited had systems to enable pupils to move up, or down, a set.
However, moving up a set becomes increasingly difficult as pupils progress
through the school due to higher sets’ more extensive mathematical knowledge
and skills. A recent trend has been the wholesale regrouping of Year 11 cohorts
after the results of early GCSE entry to allow different sets to focus on
particular grades or tiers.
166. Other important issues were associated with setting. All secondary schools
would ideally staff all of their mathematics classes with skilful specialist
teachers. Many of the schools visited struggled to do so, and therefore had to
make choices. They often prioritised the staffing of key examination classes and
higher-attaining sets, placing non-specialist and temporary teachers with lower
sets and younger classes. Timetable constraints sometimes resulted in two
teachers sharing a class, again usually of younger or less-able pupils. The
extent of this varied. In one secondary school, for instance, pairs of teachers
shared the teaching of all the Year 7 sets and most of the Year 8 sets. In
general, this does not aid coherent progression or good-quality learning.