Textbooks have long been the preferred classroom resource but as more educational research comes to light and national progress in maths remains in decline, it’s becoming more evident that it’s time to reconsider our relationship with textbooks.
The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) ranks Australian students 10th out of the 81 participating countries, which sounds promising but as we take a closer look at the results, we see that only half of students (aged 15) met the national benchmark.
ACER Senior Research Fellow and report co-author Lisa De Bortoli stated, ‘Just over half of Australian students achieved the National Proficient Standard – 51% in maths, 58% in science and 57% in reading – so a significant number of students are failing to demonstrate they have more than basic skills in those areas.’
Since 2000, when PISA first began, Australia has seen a steady decline in student competency in reading, maths, and science, with the pandemic fueling this as students missed out on learning, and social and emotional development, and as a result, are even further behind. Although teachers work tirelessly to catch students up to the curriculum, it’s becoming increasingly difficult as classrooms are filled with diverse learning needs.
The current resources and strategies teachers are equipped with are not sufficient to address this growing problem. That’s why a more personalised approach to learning is gaining traction as we aim to address the decline in mathematics results, and the drop in students pursuing STEM careers. However, as we steer towards differentiated learning in schools, teachers are faced with a new set of challenges.
Why can personalised learning be challenging?
The average year 7 classroom has a six-year spread of ability, making it seem impossible for one teacher to cater to each student’s academic and developmental needs. Textbooks don’t make it any easier for teachers, as a resource designed to teach to the age of the student, rather than supporting any sort of differentiation.
To offer students high-quality personalised content, teachers first need access to real-time detailed student data that clearly illustrates gaps and competency across every concept at each stage. Only then can we start to fill the backlog of learning gaps and help students build stronger learning foundations.
The next challenge is producing the appropriate learning content for the 20+ students in your class. Research finds that it can take up to 500 hours to create a year’s worth of curriculum materials for just one subject, not considering each student’s place along the curriculum. This is concerning when 85% of teachers surveyed by the Grattan Institute said they either did not, or only somewhat, have access to a comprehensive bank of ready-to-use, high-quality instructional materials.
Following sourcing and preparing personalised content, individualised assessments must be prepared and regularly conducted so understanding can be assessed, misconceptions can be addressed, and the next set of work assigned.
It’s not surprising teachers’ and school leaders’ stress levels spike at the mention of personalised learning. Especially with the lack of resourcing exacerbated by the teacher shortage hindering many schools around Australia.
What’s the value in pursuing personalised learning?
Despite the challenges that may present themselves when implementing personalised learning, research indicates that textbooks lack sufficient depth and complexity to engage students in authentic learning processes (Flanders, 1987; Reis et al., 1993). Personalised learning has the means to better engage students and increase motivation levels by simply providing students with the work they are ready to learn next. When students are appropriately challenged they can fill learning gaps, build confidence in their abilities, and see greater academic achievement. A study conducted with 31 maths teachers and their 645 students found that students exposed to a differentiated curriculum demonstrated a significantly higher achievement compared to students using a textbook (Tieso, C. 2005).
Emotions also play a role in how successful students are in class. Research concludes that a student who engages in a class work beyond their level of readiness, becomes stressed, and the brain overproduces key neurotransmitters that impede learning. (Koob, Cole, Swerdlow, & leMoal, 1990). The same can be said for those provided with work well below their learning level; boredom, disengagement, and restlessness can set in. The onset of these challenging emotions in students commonly leads to poor and disruptive classroom behaviour.
The path forward with personalised learning
With the right support and resources, a differentiated approach is more achievable than we think.
Maths Pathway schools have everything they need to successfully implement, manage, and enjoy differentiation in their classrooms. We combine the best of explicit teaching and personalised learning for all teachers by providing the tools, resources, and strategies needed to empower students to excel.
How does our approach work?
- Teachers discover all the gaps and competencies each student has in the maths curriculum through adaptive diagnostic and formative assessments that pinpoints understanding of every mathematical concept.
- Personalised learning journeys are created for each student’s needs based on their diagnostic results. The learning content is written by teachers, numeracy specialists, and mathematicians and goes through rigorous testing to ensure it’s always the highest quality content.
- Teachers, informed by detailed data on student achievement, use their expertise to provide highly effective explicit teaching. This whole class lesson covers the key components of a concept before students jump into their targeted work.
- Fortnightly assessments are automatically generated based on the learning a student has completed during their learning cycle. The results of this test inform teachers about what students have mastered and what they might need extra support with.
- Students become more engaged in maths, less anxious, and deeply understand the maths they learn, creating happier students who enjoy coming to class.
- Finally, students reach excellent levels of numeracy and are prepared for senior mathematics. 84% of Maths Pathway students are on track to study senior maths compared to the national average of only 46%.
“Differentiated instruction is so valuable. The gaps in learning across a general cohort of students can widen as they progress through their schooling. Maths Pathway helps students to catch up and for others to move on without being held back by peers.” – Nerida, Highlands Christian College
