After two disrupted years and postponing plans, the teachers at St Luke’s School of Foundations have finally got the opportunity to focus our professional development on the Maths block. In Term One the goal is it develop purposeful warm up tasks to challenge and extend all levels of mathematical understanding in the classroom. The warm up task is a ten-minute activity designed to get students to trigger their reasoning strategies in preparation for the rich task that will follow. The last fifteen minutes is reserved for reflection where teaching and learning occurs. Given the importance in the role of metacognition and reflection in learning, these last fifteen minutes are most crucial.
For tasks to be purposeful, teachers must know where each of their students is at regarding their development and problem solving abilities. This is where the MAI (Mathematical Assessment Interview) proves useful. The MAI is a 30-40 minute interview conducted at the start of every year for each student and is used along side Growth Point Descriptors that defines the mental strategies at each level of development in mathematical reasoning. On completion of the interview the results are analysed and a profile is assigned to each student corresponding to the Growth Point Descriptors.
The first step in appreciating the MAI is to understand that the numbers assigned are a profile, not a score that determines the percentage of correct answers given by most traditional tests. The second step is to realise that it is not a test that places students in a ranking order but an interview that seeks out ability. This carefully constructed tool, when analysed well, provides information about each child’s use of strategies and conceptual understanding and allows us to direct teaching to meet the individual needs of each student. Something that is often difficult to obtain through more traditional methods. For the MAI to be proved useful then, is to not only learn how to administer the interview but to have a profound understanding of the Growth Point Descriptors that supports the results of the MAI. It requires careful analysis. Equipped with a deeper understanding of where each student is at, the teacher can then manipulate the warm up tasks and provide the appropriate prompts to allow for challenge and growth.
Associate Professor Ann Gervasoni designed the MAI and developed the Growth Point Descriptors after more than 20 years of research in a quest to understand the distinct nature of learning mathematics in young children, particularly low achievers. She further researched the nature of the growth point barriers experiences by low achieving students and the nature of learning required to move beyond these barriers. As a result an intervention program was developed and a structured Mathematics block was created. From this research she also found that students required on average ‘200 hits’ or repetitive practise in order for deeper understanding to occur.
Ann Gervasoni also discovered through her research, that in order to learn of the mental strategies students are using and they’re conceptual understanding, the MAI was best conducted after a long break from school. When a child is assessed immediately after instruction, their knowledge is retained in short-term memory and therefore the results raise doubt as to whether or not learning was procedural. Those with a deeper level of mathematical reasoning will always find pathways to solve problems in the most efficient way even when revisited after a long break. The role of metacognition and reflection on learning plays a significant part in this development and the reason why the reflection part of the Mathematics block is vital.
The MAI however, can prove difficult, as it is extremely time consuming not only in administering it to every chid in the classroom, but also time must be given to analyse the data for each one. However, it does provide valuable and explicit information that can be used to plan and implement programs that are targeted and purposeful for all levels of learners. Given the nature of the information provided by this tool, it is time well spent. To afford teachers this luxury will provide opportunity for explicit planning, resulting in confidant teaching and self-driven learning. The MAI is the starting point to a well-planned Maths block. The Growth Point Descriptors will help guide us forward. Both are valuable tools when understood and used correctly. Extremely burdensome ones if not.