Middle Years Numeracy Research Project: Years 5-9
The Middle Years Numeracy Research Project was commissioned by the Victorian Department of Education, Employment and Training (DEET), the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria (CECV) and the Association of Independent Schools of Victoria (AISV) to:
- inform the development of a strategic and coordinated approach and advice for schools about the teaching and learning of numeracy for students in Years 5-9
- trial and evaluate the proposed approaches in selected Victorian schools and to
- identify and document what works and does not work in numeracy teaching including those students who fall behind.
Phase 1 of the project involved the collection of baseline data on the numeracy performance of a sample of Year 5 to 9 students from 20 primary and 20 secondary schools across Victoria. This data was collected through a Student Numeracy Profile and an Extended Numeracy Task. Data concerning current school-wide policies and practices was obtained from each school through a survey, follow-up interview and collection of relevant artefacts (e.g. school policies, programs etc.).
Phase 2 of the project involved the development of framework for advice prepared on the basis of the data collected in Phase 1 and recent research in the area of numeracy education and the middle years of schooling. The framework was organised in terms of the key design elements described in the General Design for a Whole-School Approach to School Improvement developed by Hill and Crévola (1997).
Detailed reports of the research project are available here: