COUNTING THE COST - MONITORING STANDARDS IN MATHEMATICS IN YEAR 6 - AN 8-YEAR CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

The National Curriculum was introduced into British primary schools in 1989 to raise standards of attainment, especially in the basic skills of English and mathematics. Has this expensive innovation succeeded? This paper analyses the mathematics standards of eight cohorts of Year 6 children front five randomly selected primary schools within one Lo cal Education Authority (n=1503) who had all done Mathematics 11 from 1989 to 1996. Examination of the means of the standardised mathematics scores for each cohort reveals no evidence of rising standards in att ainment over the eight years. There are fewer over-and underachievers than one would expect with a tendency for compression of scores around the mean. This paper questions the efficacy of the National Curriculu m, assessment procedures and the publication of school performance tab les in raising standards in mathematics at Key Stage 2. The need for a n effective system of monitoring educational standards throughout the UK is reiterated.