A classroom intervention that costs just $9 for each child can deliver a three-month boost to children’s math skills.
The initiative also showed promise in closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their peers, according to an independent evaluation.
The Maths Champions program aims to improve the quality of math teaching by providing structured professional development and support to staff in pre-school and early years settings.
The program, delivered to settings for three and four-year-olds by the National Day Nurseries Association in the U.K., costs just over £7 ($9) per child per year to deliver.
Children who took part in the program made an additional three months’ progress in a single year in math and language development on average, compared with children who did not participate, according to experts at Durham and York universities.
Around 1,300 children at 134 settings took part in a trial comparing the outcomes at nurseries which implemented the program with outcomes at nurseries that did not take part.
Children from the most disadvantaged families made even more progress – six months on average – although as this involved fewer children it should be treated with caution, according to the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), the charity which ran the evaluation.
“The early years of a child’s life determines so much about their future,” says Professor Becky Francis, chief executive of the EEF. “And yet, there’s a distinct lack of evidence-based options available to early years settings looking to maximise the impact of their practice, and boost progress for the children in their care.
“Today’s findings are hugely significant, giving early years educators a much needed, proven, cost-effective program to consider when looking to make changes to their early numeracy provision.”
The program involves participating settings nominating a Maths Champion, who undertakes training covering early years math theory, supporting colleagues and auditing current practice.
The Maths Champion can then support colleagues to develop their teaching practice, as well as develop a math action plan and track progress.
“This program has been easy to follow,” says Gemma Smith, nursery teacher at one of the participating schools.
“It has improved staff confidence with maths and has had a positive effect on children. It has made us all step back and look at where we were with maths and make some positive changes to our daily routines and classroom practice.”
The possible impact of the program ranged from two to five months progress in math and one to four months progress in language development, researchers said.
And they suggested that the program’s impact could have been due to teachers gaining more confidence in teaching math to pre-school age children.
“Ensuring confidence with maths early on can make a significant difference, especially for disadvantaged children’s lives,” says Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the National Day Nurseries Association, with developed the program.
“The message is very clear: give children the support they need as early as possible to give them the best possible start in life,” she added.
The findings come after results of tests taken in England show that more than a quarter of children (27%) failed to meet the expected standard in math by the time they leave primary school.
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