Mathe macht stark
MMS - Primary School - Evaluation of the mathematics primary school support program

The Institute for Quality Development of Schools in Schleswig-Holstein (IQSH) developed materials for teachers and students under the supervision of the IPN for this purpose. The materials can be utilized for diagnosis and support in mathematics lessons.

A total of 24 mathematical core areas of grade 1/2 are available for class tasks as well as tasks for individual diagnosis (interview) (see Figure 1). The class is assigned written tasks which take about ten minutes and are designed to identifying students with difficulties in the respective subject area. The teacher carries out a short individual interview with each of these students to better understand the individual student’s comprehension difficulties. Teachers can refer to specific support guidelines and available didactic advice depending on the evaluation results. These aids can also be implemented alongside conventional primary school learning material. Two to four content areas are concluded with a “milestone” test to gauge and document the student progress. These tests can be found in the student exercise book.

One hundred schools in Schleswig-Holstein have taken part in the four-year project since the 2013/2014 school year. In the 2014/2015 school year, 43 more schools were included in this project. In regional in-service training programs, the participating teachers receive didactical and subject background knowledge in addition to the previously distributed material. They also have the opportunity to share their experiences.

Further information (in German) on the support program can be found here.

Sub-project 1: Evaluation of the support program

As part of the evaluation of the MMS support program for elementary school, the effectiveness of the support in preventing difficulties in learning mathematics will be examined. This involved a quasi-experimental design with three groups:

(1) In addition to the material and supporting in-service training, 20 schools receive two additional teaching hours per week to implement the support.

(2) Ten schools receive the materials and in-service trainings, but without the additional weekly teaching hours.

(3) Ten schools outside of the support program serve as a control group. They carry out the standard student diagnosis and support in everyday teaching situations as typical for Schleswig-Holstein.

The schools participating in the test were chosen for their comparability in terms of social, cultural and performance-related composition of the student body. In total, data was collected from approx. 2500 students. In the 2013/14 school year, five written tests were carried out with all first-year students in the participating schools. Three more tests followed in the second school year. The test tasks are based on the content areas of the MMS materials and record relevant features of understanding the concept of numbers as well as numeracy skills. At the end of the first to fourth school year, a test is administered which was developed as part of the PERLE project (Kassel University ) and is suitable for a longitudinal study on the development of arithmetic skills.

Learning prerequisites related to mathematics were ascertained at the start of the project (Hamburger Rechentest, HaReT) to control for individual differences between students as well as classes and school influences. A similar procedure was also carried out for language competencies (Münsteraner Screening, MÜSC). Students’ basic cognitive abilities (CFT 1-R) were also tested halfway through the first school year. Background variables were also collected about the teachers’ teaching as well as from their parents regarding the children. The teachers who worked with the MMS material also documented which children were particularly supported, how often and in which content areas the support took place.

Sub-project 2: Analyzing competence development in arithmetic

Assumptions about the development of skills in the field of arithmetic can be analyzed which go beyond the evaluation of the support program as a result of the detailed compilation of specific arithmetical competences at different points in time in first and second primary school classes. This study is intended to contribute to clarifying the significance of certain mathematical sub-skills which are ascribed an important role in the curriculum and mathematics education literature.

The study makes it possible to identify those sub-skills particularly significant for the development of skills in mathematics primary school level.