A report just published by the Ministry of Education has once again confirmed the worth of the Government’s efforts in providing quality professional development for the country’s teachers, Education Minister Trevor Mallard said today.

The report by Joanna Higgins of the Wellington College of Education evaluates a pilot professional development programme Year 4-6 Numeracy Exploratory Study, which is designed to improve the teaching and learning of numeracy in primary school.

Year 4-6 teachers at primary schools in Auckland, Waikato and Wellington participated in the pilot programme, and Dr Higgins’ evaluation looks at the impact on the professional knowledge and the classroom practices of twelve of them.

Trevor Mallard says the project is an important component of the Government’s literacy and numeracy strategy.

“It seeks to improve student achievement in maths by challenging teachers to improve their own knowledge, skills and confidence in the subject, and it provides examples of how they can teach it more effectively,” he said.

“Dr Higgins’ evaluation confirms that the pilot project was a resounding success. The teachers reported having a greater understanding of mathematics content, particularly number, and of how they might teach it more effectively.

“It is especially pleasing to me to see that they had improved both their maths knowledge and their classroom practice,” Trevor Mallard said,

The Year 4-6 Numeracy Exploratory Study complements the very successful Count Me In Too pilot project and is the basis for this year’s Advanced Numeracy project.

Ends

© Scoop Media