The draft Australian curriculum: Mathematics

1. The draft Australian curriculum:Mathematics

2. Finding the draft curriculum http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/Home

3. Registering for the forum http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/home/consultation.htm

4. Draft Australian Curriculum • Number and algebra • Measurement and geometry • Statistics and probability Mathematics Number Patterns and algebra Data Measurement Space and geometry

5. Process strands Working Mathematically • Questioning • Applying Strategies • Communicating • Reasoning • Reflecting • Proficiency strands • Understanding • Fluency • Problem solving • Reasoning

6. Mathematics curriculum content • Content descriptions Understand numbers to 10, including matching number names, numerals and quantities,… (Kindergarten) • Content elaborations …illustrate and/or clarify the detail of the content descriptions. • Achievement standards By the end of Kindergarten, students are able to confidently recall the sequence of numbers to 20, matching names and numerals and find the total of small collections by counting.

7. About the curriculum • Organised in years, not stages. • Descriptions of content and achievement standards, no outcomes. • Content descriptions are brief • This makes it difficult to determine if they are clear without the elaboration – Can you find when the multiplication facts for 7 are taught? Do you know what to teach in Year 5 when you read: “Solve realistic problems involving multiplication with large numbers including division by one-digit numbers”?

8. Issues and challenges • How does the draft curriculum provide support for the full range of students in your class? • How do the standards compare to the current NSW syllabus? e.g. From the Best Start Kindergarten assessment about 2/5 could identify numerals to 10, and about 8% each to 20 and to 100, on entry to Kindergarten . The draft Australian curriculum in mathematics expects students can identify numerals to 10 by the end of Kindergarten.

9. Issues and challenges • How is content organised in school years meant to assist the diverse range of learners? • Resourcing • Although calculators are referred to in the NSW Mathematics K-6 syllabus they are not described within the mandatory outcomes. The draft Australian curriculum refers to calculators in the mandatory content from as early as Year 2. What are the implications of requiring all students to use calculators from Year 2? When do students learn order of operations or rounding decimals?

10. Issues and challenges • Some content statements appear to be teaching activities rather than statements of content e.g. Year 2: Say, understand and reason with number sequences increasing by twos, fives and tens from any starting point including using calculators. • Much of the content appears at different years to our syllabus e.g. Recognise and represent numbers involving tenths and hundredths… In which year would you currently teach this and in which year in the draft curriculum?

11. General questions • Does the draft Australian mathematics curriculum support both excellence and equity? • Is the draft curriculum focused on the important ideas? • Is the draft curriculum coherent? In particular, does the sequence of development make sense? • Is the draft curriculum internally consistent in the way it uses concepts from other strands (e.g. multiplication and area)?

12. Comments from the forum There does not seem to be a logical progression of learning in the Australian Mathematics curriculum. For example, Kindergarten are only expected to represent numbers up to ten but then are also expected to compare collections to 20. Calculators are introduced in year two when children are learning to count by twos, fives and tens. Student understanding in mathematics should progress from concrete to abstract. Introducing abstract alongside concrete will inhibit student learning. It is important that students understand the concepts before applying them.

13. Comments from the forum In Kindergarten students build a number sense up to ten, to 100 in year one and to 130 in year two. It is unclear why these numbers have been allocated to these year groups. I also query why students in Year 2 go up to 130 in number, yet are also expected to understand place value to 1000. Thirds are introduced in Year 2 with quarters. 7 times tables are the only times tables not taught in year four, but they are not taught explicitly in the next year either. It is not clear why this happens.

14. Comments from the forum Length and capacity are grouped together in the Australian curriculum. This is not a logical grouping. Additionally the expectations of the Australian Curriculum are quite low in some areas. For example, area is not introduced until year two and is equivalent to NSW's expectations for Kindergarten.

15. The Statistics and Probability strand shows a dramatic increase in the level of challenge from an early age. The recently released core standards from the US decided to reduce (or remove) content on statistics and probability from the elementary years to allow more time for the other areas of mathematics. Introducing an expectation that students "use a mean or median from a sample to estimate the mean or median of a population and to recognise the limitations of samples" is a marked increase in expectations for Year 8.

17. Is the sequence in the Statistics and Probability strand reasonable? They use representation of single variable data to describe distributions including the use of median, mode and range. Which year? When is the mean taught? Is the sequence in the Measurement and geometry strand reasonable?