Low attainment in mathematics: An analysis of 60 years of policy discourse in England

The problem of low attainment in mathematics has been an increasingly prominent feature of the policy discourse in England over the last 60 years; however, evidence from comparative studies indicates that little progress has been made in finding a solution. In this paper, we analyse the changing policy discourse of low attainment in mathematics through the main reports and speeches published in England, beginning with the Newsom Report, Half Our Future, in 1963, and continuing to the present day. We chart the evolving perspectives on the nature of ability, expectations, curriculum ideology and frame of reference through the changing language used in these documents, noting tensions and inconsistencies which arise through continuing lack of clarity about definitions and assumptions

Low-attaining secondary school mathematics students’ perspectives on recommended teaching strategies

Recent research syntheses have identified several potentially high-leverage teaching strategies for improving low-attaining secondary school students’ learning of mathematics. These strategies include the structured use of representations and manipulatives and an emphasis on derived facts and estimation. This paper reports on 70 semi-structured interviews conducted with low-attaining students in Years 9-10 (ages 13-15) in England. The interviews addressed the students’ perceptions of learning mathematics and the teaching strategies that they experienced and believed were most helpful. Many students reported rarely using number lines, not spontaneously estimating answers and being unfamiliar with derived facts. During the interviews, with minimal direction, students often showed that they were well able to make use of these strategies; however, they did not report making spontaneous use of them independently. We conclude that many of the most well-evidenced and recommended strategies to support low-attaining students in mathematics appear to be unfamiliar and unvalued, and we discuss how this might be addressed.</p

Low-attaining secondary school mathematics students’ perspectives on recommended teaching strategies

Recent research syntheses have identified several potentially high-leverage teaching strategies for improving low-attaining secondary school students’ learning of mathematics. These strategies include the structured use of representations and manipulatives and an emphasis on derived facts and estimation. This paper reports on 70 semi-structured interviews conducted with low-attaining students in Years 9-10 (ages 13-15) in England. The interviews addressed the students’ perceptions of learning mathematics and the teaching strategies that they experienced and believed were most helpful. Many students reported rarely using number lines, not spontaneously estimating answers and being unfamiliar with derived facts. During the interviews, with minimal direction, students often showed that they were well able to make use of these strategies; however, they did not report making spontaneous use of them independently. We conclude that many of the most well-evidenced and recommended strategies to support low-attaining students in mathematics appear to be unfamiliar and unvalued, and we discuss how this might be addressed.</p

Low attainment in mathematics: an investigation focusing on Year 9 students in England

This project investigated low attainment in mathematics by focusing on the lowest attaining 40% of pupils in Year 9 in England and addressing the following research questions:x What mathematics do low attaining secondary pupils understand, and what are their particular strengths and weaknesses in number, multiplicative reasoning and algebra?x Can low attainment be characterised simply as delay? If not, to what extent and in what ways do low attaining pupils understand mathematics in qualitatively different ways to high attaining pupils?x To what extent do low attaining pupils' prior understandings of mathematics, and of particular mathematical topics, help to explain the existence of the attainment gap? What is the relative contribution of these mathematical understandings in comparison to socio-economic status and other demographic factors?x What is currently known about the effectiveness of teaching strategies and approaches that address low attainment in secondary mathematics?x To what extent is mathematics currently taught in appropriate ways for low attainers? </div

Low attainment in mathematics: an investigation focusing on Year 9 students in England. Technical report

This project investigated low attainment in mathematics by focusing on the lowest attaining 40% of pupils in Year 9 in England and addressing the following research questions:RQ1: What mathematics do low attaining secondary pupils understand, and what are their particular strengths and weaknesses in number, multiplicative reasoning and algebra?RQ2: Can low attainment be characterised simply as cognitive delay? If not, to what extent and in what ways do low attaining pupils understand mathematics in qualitatively different ways to high attaining pupils?RQ3: To what extent do low attaining pupils' prior understandings of mathematics, and of particular mathematical topics, help to explain the existence of the attainment gap? What is the relative contribution of these mathematical understandings in comparison to socio-economic status and other demographic factors?RQ4: What is currently known about the effectiveness of teaching strategies and approaches that address low attainment in secondary mathematics?RQ5: To what extent is mathematics currently taught in appropriate ways for low attainers?This technical report provides additional, detailed information about the methods and analysis used in this research project. See the main project report for a discussion of the background to the project.</div

A Pilot Study of Omalizumab in Eosinophilic Esophagitis

<div><p>Eosinophilic disorders of the gastrointestinal tract are an emerging subset of immune pathologies within the spectrum of allergic inflammation. Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE), once considered a rare disease, is increasing in incidence, with a rate of over 1 in 10,000 in the US, for unknown reasons. The clinical management of EoE is challenging, thus there is an urgent need for understanding the etiology and pathophysiology of this eosinophilic disease to develop better therapeutic approaches. In this open label, single arm, unblinded study, we evaluated the effects of an anti-IgE treatment, omalizumab, on local inflammation in the esophagus and clinical correlates in patients with EoE. Omalizumab was administered for 12 weeks to 15 subjects with long standing EoE. There were no serious side effects from the treatment. Esophageal tissue inflammation was assessed both before and after therapy. After 3 months on omalizumab, although tissue Immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels were significantly reduced in all but two of the subjects, we found that full remission of EoE, which is defined as histologic and clinical improvement only in 33% of the patients. The decrease in tryptase-positive cells and eosinophils correlated significantly with the clinical outcome as measured by improvement in endoscopy and symptom scores, respectively. Omalizumab-induced remission of EoE was limited to subjects with low peripheral blood absolute eosinophil counts. These findings demonstrate that in a subset of EoE patients, IgE plays a role in the pathophysiology of the disease and that anti-IgE therapy with omalizumab may result in disease remission. Since this study is open label there is the potential for bias, hence the need for a larger double blind placebo controlled study. The data presented in this pilot study provides a foundation for proper patient selection to maximize clinical efficacy.</p><p>Trial Registration</p><p>ClinicalTrials.gov <a href="https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01040598" target="_blank">NCT01040598</a></p></div

Effect of omalizumab on esophageal eosinophil counts, symptom scores and overall endoscopic score.

<p>The x-axis represents symptoms scores, the y-axis eosinophil counts, and right side of the graph represents post therapy with omalizumab. Individual patient data are shown as circles connected with a dashed line to allow comparison between pretreatment and post treatment. The size of the circle represents endoscopy score (also shown as a number inside the circle).</p

Eosinophil FcR1 expression in EoE.

<p>Eosinophils were identified by a combination of FSC/SSA and expression of CD9 and CD16 as CD9⁺CD16^- cells. Evaluation of FcεR1 and CD69 were compared versus IgG1 as an isotype control.</p

Summary of the statistics of the comparison of pre and post omalizumab data points: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (2-tailed).

<p>Summary of the statistics of the comparison of pre and post omalizumab data points: Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test (2-tailed).</p

Study Subjects and Baseline Characteristics.

<p>M: mid; d: distal, m/d: mid and distal.</p><p>*Represents the peak count either in distal or mid esophagus.</p><p>Study Subjects and Baseline Characteristics.</p