Comprehensive Numeracy Programme to be implemented in Primary Schools

The Ministry of Education is set to embark on a National Comprehensive Numeracy Programme to be implemented in primary schools across the island for the 2012/2013 academic year, in an effort to improve numeracy skills among students, particularly at that level.

“The programme will focus mainly on early numeracy, which is for three to five year olds, lower primary – (grades) one to three and upper primary – (grades) four to six,” informed Numeracy Specialist, Warren Brown, during a recent press briefing at the Ministry of Education’s Heroes Circle Offices.

The press conference was held to announce results of the Grade Four Numeracy Test, which was taken  by students in primary schools across Jamaica in June last year.

Mr. Brown said the programme is expected to form part of a number of remedial steps to improve the performance of primary school students, adding that under the project, emphasis will be placed on a three-pronged network, which includes conceptual understanding, procedural fluency and problem solving.

“Also embedded in this programme will be the taxonomy of mathematics, mathematics standards, and the scope and sequence for (grades) one to three, which was developed in collaboration with the Ministry’s team and the United Stated Agency for International Development (USAID),” he said.

He further noted that the programme has also been designed to cover teacher support, which will look at technical, instructional support and material support. “An accountability matrix is also included in this section, which principals and the various stakeholders will be sensitised on,” he said.

“For the teacher support we have also developed a bank of lesson plans. There  is also the ‘Problem Solving’ handbook and a ‘Math in the Home’ handbook for parents, because it has to be a partnership with parents and teachers,” he said.

Mr. Brown pointed out that the Ministry has also included a promotional aspect to the programme, “because we have to think of it as a business, where you have to promote it to gain some amount of success, and promotion must start at the early years.”

In this regard, the team has also designed a handbook titled ‘Promoting Numeracy’, which will be distributed to schools and other stakeholders.

The Numeracy Specialist noted  that the Ministry is currently working to identify individuals to assist as trainers for teachers to prepare for the implementation of the programme in September. “Every single teacher must be trained, every education officer and staff at the Ministry must be sensitised. We are also trying to, as much as possible, target the parents through the Parent -Teacher Associations (PTAs) to get them sensitised to the programme,” he adds.

Mr. Brown also informed that the National Comprehensive Numeracy Programme has been designed in alignment with the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate’s (CSEC) curriculum, in order to ensure that students are “curriculum ready” for secondary school when they leave Grade Six.

“We hope that this programme will have a ripple effect, not just for the primary system, but in the high schools, and all the way to the tertiary level. However, it cannot be a success unless we all work together and every single department of the Ministry of Education and the society has to be working together for this to be a success,” Mr. Brown emphasised

In the meantime, Acting Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Grace McLean, said the government intends to continue to focus specifically on the area of numeracy, even as it focuses on implementing the schools’ accountability matrix, which will be fully supported by the National Comprehensive Numeracy Programme.

“Our Numeracy Specialists will also continue to do all that is necessary as we provide greater support for our teachers from the early childhood right through to the end of primary, so that we can see this area, that is so important to our national development, improving,” she said.

Data released by the Ministry of Education have indicated that 49 per cent of the candidates who sat the Grade Four Numeracy Test in June 2011 achieved mastery, an eight percentage points increase from the previous year.

The results also showed that some 29 per cent achieved almost mastery, while approximately 22 per cent, non-mastery.

A total of 45,769 students from public and private schools sat the test, which was administered to primary school students for the third consecutive year. This compared to 46,336 who sat in 2009/2010. As in the previous year, there were almost as many females as there were males sitting the test – 51 per cent and 49 per cent, respectively.

Statistics also revealed that in 2009/2010, of the students who sat the exam, 41 per cent achieved mastery, while 32 per cent achieved almost mastery and 27 per cent, non-mastery.

Data provided by officials at the Ministry showed that of the 22,511 students who achieved mastery in 2010/2011, 58 per cent or 13,163 were females, while 42 per cent or 9,347 were males, compared to 59 per cent females and 41 per cent males of the 19, 296 students who achieved mastery in 2009/2010.

The Grade Four Numeracy Test was taken  by students from 790 of the 792 public schools across the island. Of the 40,962 public school students sitting the test, approximately 46 per cent achieved mastery, 31 per cent almost mastery and 23 per cent non-mastery. While the number of students who sat the test from public schools decreased this year, the percentage of those achieving mastery increased by eight percentage points.

Additionally, 74 or nine per cent of the 790 primary level public schools performed in the lowest quintile or first tier of the examination. This is a decrease of six percentage points over the previous year in the schools in the lowest tier. Approximately four per cent or 33 of the schools were in the highest quintile or fifth tier, representing a 100 per cent increase over the last year in the percentage of schools performing in the highest tier.

Assessment under the Grade Four Numeracy Test is conducted in six broad areas, namely number operation and number representation, measurement and geometry, algebra and statistics. The government intends to improve the numeracy performance of all primary school students to at least 85 per cent by 2015.

By Athaliah Reynolds, JIS Reporter