Accelerated maths and pāngarau tutoring trial, Years 7-8

 

A Maths Accelerated Tutoring Trial is being run for Years 7–8 in Terms 1 and 2 next year. The trial aims to accelerate students’ learning so that they can access the maths/pāngarau curriculum at the appropriate level (i.e. phase three of learning), and the results of the trial will be used to inform a nation–wide rollout of the programme in Term 3. The trial will be held over twelve weeks, running from Week Three of Term 1 through to Week Five of Term 2. The trial will involve 4 x 30–minute sessions per week, where a teacher, teacher aide or tutor works with students who are currently needing Tier Two support.

There are three ways this will be delivered;

• In-school - a suitably qualified maths teacher, teacher aide, or tutor provides additional tuition to groups of 4 students for 30 minutes, 4 times a week.
• Online - Students engage with an online tutoring programme for 30 minutes, 4 times a week, supervised by a teacher aide (the Ministry will be providing the online tool).
• Hybrid - Students will engage with independent online tutoring, supported by a teacher, teacher aide, or tutor, for 30 minutes, four times a week (the Ministry will be providing the online tool).

The trial will cover four key areas – fluency and application of basic facts, place value, rational numbers – fractions, decimals, percentages, and reasoning/decoding word problems (this is also the biggest issue for students sitting the Co-Requisite).

Schools and kura will be funded via FTE payments for the trial period, which they can then use to either hire tutors, or hire relievers to replace existing teachers they may want use in the trial. Note: tutors can be individuals or organisations.

To be eligible for the trial, schools and kura must agree to:

• use specified assessments to identify students for the trial and to measure the impact of the trial.
• support the consistent delivery of 4 x 30-minute sessions weekly at a ratio of 1:4 students for the duration of the trial, whilst ensuring that students continue to have access to a broad and balanced curriculum.
• support or provide students with appropriate technology for the duration of the trial.
• identify & provide teachers, teacher aides, or tutors who meet the criteria.

Schools and kura will be responsible for selecting and paying the teachers, teacher aides, or tutors they wish to use to be part of the trial – noting you will receive extra funding for this.

The criteria for teachers and tutors are:

• Significant experience teaching/tutoring Year 7 – 8.
• Confidence in building the foundations of maths and/or pāngarau learning (i.e. the learning expected to be mastered by Year 6).
• Experience in assessment and using data to inform next steps.
• Proven experience delivering tutoring services to learners who may have disengaged from learning.
• Understanding of effective practices in the classroom and evidence-based approaches to maths and/or pāngarau.
• Have a clear methodology for supporting accelerated learning that is evidence based for maths and/or pāngarau.
• Commits to attending support sessions to share experiences and learn from each other.
• Understands the need to maintain fidelity of the trial (i.e. not creating own programmes, widening the scope, changing the timings of sessions etc).

They must have a strong understanding of assessment tools:

• Assessment practices.
• Using data to adapt teaching strategies.

The criteria for students is:

• Year 7-8 students, who are not ready to access learning at the appropriate year level (i.e. the learning expected to be mastered by Year 6).
• Students will be within the tier 2 cohort (tier 3 students or those with high and complex needs are not eligible).
• Students whose acceleration needs will not be met by universal classroom teaching as supported by the revised curriculum, maths resources and PLD.

Not all selected students will take part in the tutoring as we are expecting there to be more demand than availability. Some students may also be selected and need to be assessed but will not receive the tutoring – these will be the control group for the trial. This is being done so we can accurately measure the effectiveness of the tutoring intervention.

Additionally, please note:

• Attendance is not one of the criteria, however, we will report on attendance as a factor in the evaluation of the trial (e.g. did students with low attendance during the trial make less progress; did inclusion in the trial positively affect students’ attendance).
• Parents/caregivers must consent to students being included in the trial as individual, anonymised data will be reported to the Ministry for evaluation purposes.
• ESOL students will not be included in the trial.

If you have any questions, or would like to register as a school interested in being part of the trial, please email [email protected].