The Education Endowment Foundation evaluated Maths Champions, a low-cost professional development programme designed to support young children’s early numeracy.
The one-year programme, developed and delivered by the National Day Nurseries Association, supports early years providers to improve their maths provision by nominating a senior member of existing staff as a ‘Maths Champion’ to undertake training and support colleagues to develop their maths teaching practice, alongside a ‘Deputy Maths Champion’ to support their work.
More than 1,300 children from 134 early years settings (private, voluntary and independent and school-based nursery settings) took part in the trial, which ran from September 2021 to July 2022. Children’s development was measured using the Assessment Profile on Entry for Children and Toddlers (ASPECTS) maths score. It found that
The evaluators found that children who took part in the Maths Champions programme made, on average, three months’ additional progress in both maths and language development compared to a similar group of children who didn’t take part in the programme.
The training provided covers areas such as early years maths theory, how to support fellow members of staff, and auditing current practice. It also offers support with developing a maths action plan and tracking children’s progress.
Costing just over £7 per child per year, the EEF said the programme offers inexpensive, evidence-informed support for nurseries looking to boost mathematical development in their early years setting.
Professor Carole Torgerson, department of education at the University of York (co-author of the report and lead on the process evaluation) said, ‘Staff in nurseries were extremely positive about all elements of the Maths Champions programme. They highlighted the increased mathematical confidence and engagement in numeracy activities of both children and nursery staff.’
Gemma Smith, nursery teacher at Thornton Primary School, said, ‘This programme has been easy to follow. 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.’
Purnima Tanuku, chief executive of the NDNA said, ‘We are delighted by the outcomes of this evaluation of our Maths Champions programme. Research shows that children’s mathematical learning in early years makes a difference to the whole of their lives.’
- The evaluation report of Maths Champions is available here
More information
The EEF is expanding its work to support early years educators with evidence-based interventions available to the sector.
Further information around how to support young children’s mathematical development is soon to be added to the Early Years Evidence Store, which illustrates how different evidence-informed approaches can be put into practice with children in early years settings.
The EEF’s Early Years Toolkit also summarises key lessons from the evidence around best practice in the Early Years.
