QCA accepts case for maths reform
Education minister Stephen Twigg said, ‘maths is a major worry.’ See here.
Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of university maths courses still unfilled…
Archive for August, 2002
Damaging Crisis In Maths
There was a huge drop in the number of students taking AS mathematics this year, and nearly 4000 students dropped it at the end of last year. The failure rate was also higher in mathematics compared to average (22% v 13%).
What does this mean? According to The Independent: Britain is heading for an economically damaging crisis in mathematics.
A Level backlash starts here
Students are yet to receive their AS and A2 results, but the annual ‘August Debate’ has already begun.
On the Today programme they interviewed two professors comparing this year’s papers with examples from 1969 and 1975 - conclusion: children are not getting brighter year on year, but then the needs of society have radically changed…
The Guardian, along with other newspapers, has started to question how bright our students really are. So, will we see record numbers of students of taking and passing A levels, but a decline in the number taking and passing mathematics?
Crowded classes = Failure
The chairman of the Japanese Kumon Institute of Education has said that standards of mathematics in Britain are failing due to large class sizes.
And, at the end of this article, a brief note about higher pay for maths teachers - “Headteachers gave their backing for the first time yesterday to a controversial proposal to pay higher salaries to maths and science teachers.”
