Government approves just one maths mastery textbook

Strict criteria set for books that will be match-funded by government
20th July 2017, 6:06pm

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Government approves just one maths mastery textbook

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/government-approves-just-one-maths-mastery-textbook
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Just one maths mastery textbook has been approved for funding under a government scheme aimed at spreading the East Asian method of teaching.

A textbook called Maths - No Problem! was the only one to meet the government’s criteria for its Teaching for Mastery funding programme, which funds teacher training and subsidises textbooks about maths mastery.

This has raised concerns about the lack of choice for schools, with even the publishers of Maths - No Problem! saying they would rather see more high-quality maths textbooks available.

 

We’d rather that there were more high quality maths textbooks out there too. The list/criteria can be found here: https://t.co/9xQruhgTLH

- Maths - No Problem! (@MathsNoProblem) July 20, 2017

 

 

Fantastic way to announce ‘list’ - sentence added halfway-down existing page on a non-gov site on last day of the school year but one!

- Mark Williams (@markuk73) July 20, 2017

 

 

Great texts books/resources. It looks like a transparent process; the criteria is there for all to see. But, lack of choice is a worry tho.

- Stevie Caldwell (@stevie_caldwell) July 20, 2017

 

Martin Casimir, managing director of Maths - No Problem!, said: “The DfE’s announcement today should go some way to weeding out the plethora of providers out there in the market place jumping on the mastery bandwagon but whose methods are not founded in research. They simply serve to confuse teachers and hamper the roll-out of the mastery method.”

Publishers were invited to submit textbooks for review by an expert panel set up by the Department for Education.

The criteria include ensuring that there is a comprehensive set of teacher manuals with curriculum content and pedagogical guidance and hard copy pupil text books and practice exercises, having assessment activities and teacher guides that enable teachers to anticipate and plan how to taken misconceptions.

The books were submitted in the 2017 spring term. The panel concluded that the Maths - No Problem! book met this criteria. Schools in the teaching for mastery programme will be able to claim match-funding up to £2,000 to purchase this textbook.

Another review panel process will be set up later this summer.

Maths - No Problem!, which is based on the principles of maths programmes in Singapore, was one of two maths mastery textbooks, along with Inspire Maths published by OUP, which were trialled in English schools in 2014.

The DfE has been contacted for comment.

 

 

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