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Introduction
The project followed a cohort of students for 3 years, with a particular interest in the students who achieved low or below level 4 in KS3 SATs. We call this the 'target group'.
In the first year the cohort was in year 7, and the schools had planned to change their teaching for this cohort, starting in year 7. We "followed" the cohort, using normal school tests and data to track progress, culminating in SATs result in year 9, which would be compared to the results of previous years and statistical predictions. Eventually it will be possible to compare these to similar schools nationally, but those data will not be available within the lifetime of this project.
In addition, we monitored a small sample of students from the target group in each school. We wanted to get a picture of their experiences as they progressed through three years to set alongside what the teachers said was happening and what we observed in lessons.
We anticipated that the first year would be innovative and the second year a consolidation of changes in practice. Continuity of experience for students varied between schools. None had continuity of teacher and teaching group for the whole three years and this alone meant that students and teachers were more likely to see each year as a new experience, with new norms to be established, whatever the overall beliefs about development during KS3.
This part of the report is about students' perceptions of doing mathematics, and their achievements, over three years.
