Primary maths leads: a key to improvement
When policymakers discuss improving mathematical education, attention often focuses on curriculum reform, assessment, recruitment or large-scale professional development programmes. Yet our latest research highlights a group of professionals who are often overlooked in debates about improving mathematical education: primary maths leads.
Mathematics professional development (PD) for primary teachers is important. As teachers of every curriculum subject, they can only learn so much about maths teaching from their initial teacher education and confidence is likely to be lower than for teaching English, given that fewer of them studied maths post-16.
None of this is new, of course, but what has changed in England in recent years is where this PD comes from. When I started teaching in the late 90s, this was provided through Local Authorities who cascaded the National Numeracy Strategy to schools (discussed by Jeremy Hodgen in his recent blog). Maths leads (then numeracy coordinators) received training and materials (some of you will remember the videos, handouts and OHP slides) to provide PD to their teacher colleagues.
Who provides primary teacher PD in mathematics?
In recent years, there has been a steady rise in the number and types of new PD providers, so the question is who is now providing primary maths PD?
Drawing on interviews with maths leads, senior leaders and classroom teachers in 19 primary schools across three localities in England, our study, published in the found that maths leads provide much of the mathematics PD that primary teachers engage with.
There are more than 16,800 primary maths leads across the country, with one or more in every primary school. While they are often overlooked in debates about improving mathematical education, our findings suggest they play a pivotal role in supporting mathematics teaching quality.
Schools can access PD from a range of sources, including Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs), Maths Hubs, Research Schools, local authorities, consultants and commercial providers. Yet our research found that much of the professional learning teachers receive happens much closer to home.
Maths leads sit at the centre of the increasingly complex education landscape. Their role in PD extends well beyond leading occasional staff meetings. To support the professional knowledge of teachers, maths leads facilitate coaching conversations, support work scrutiny and assessment discussions, co-plan lessons, conduct learning walks and provide day-to-day guidance to colleagues.
In more than half of the schools we visited, maths leads were effectively the only source of mathematics expertise available to teachers.
While maths leads played a significant role in teachers' professional development across all schools in our study, this varied between different types of schools. In larger MATs, PD was provided or coordinated centrally and cascaded through maths leads who accessed strong networks of maths leads in their MATs. In smaller MATs and maintained schools, teachers engaged with external providers of PD in schools where their maths leads had access to local networks, which was patchy. In most of these schools, the maths leads provided all of the mathematics PD. Despite these differences, maths leads bore most or all of the responsibility for providing PD for their colleagues in all 19 schools.
Why networks matter
The premise of the study was based on how much the professional learning landscape has changed. The relatively direct routes through which knowledge once travelled (government to LA to school) have been replaced by a more complex system involving MATs, Maths Hubs, Research Schools, local authorities, commercial providers and online communities. Navigating this landscape increasingly falls to maths leads.
The research highlighted the importance of subject leader networks. These networks help knowledge about maths teaching to pass between schools and support brokering of expertise between schools and the many local and national providers of mathematics PD. However, access to networks for maths leads was uneven in the study. In some areas, previous local authority networks had diminished as schools joined different MATs. Elsewhere, successful local networks existed but relied heavily on voluntary participation and goodwill. As a result, access to maths lead networks was inconsistent making it more difficult to access external sources of PD and more likely that PD would be provided in-house.
From evidence to practice
For the Observatory, this speaks directly to a broader question at the heart of our work: how does knowledge of mathematics teaching travel through the education system, and what enables and supports improvement?
Understanding attainment gaps, participation patterns and educational outcomes is essential. So too is understanding the mechanisms by which classroom practice and learner outcomes are improved. Maths leads play a crucial role and this needs clearer acknowledgement.