Mathematical Reasoning is a 12 to 15 week programme developed by the University of Oxford for pupils in Year 2. The programme aims to improve mathematical attainment by developing pupils’ understanding of the logical principles underlying mathematics, primarily:

• Quantitative Reasoning – the ability to reason about quantities and relations between quantities with or without numbers; and
• Arithmetic – the ability to reason about relations between numbers using the four operations, with a specific focus on additive composition and the inverse relation between addition and subtraction.

The programme consists of twelve teaching units, designed to last approximately 12 to 15 weeks, with children receiving approximately one hour of content per week as part of their normal mathematics lessons. The programme is fully resourced and includes online games for pupils to use.

Teachers and TAs are supported to deliver the programme through an online training course. The course is fully online and asynchronous and takes around 1.5 days to complete. Teachers and TAs will also have access to three additional interactive webinars, and ongoing support from a designated ​‘Teacher Leader’ expert in Mathematical Reasoning. Participating schools can choose to run the programme in one or more Year 2 classes or in mixed-year group classes containing Year 2 pupils.

The current trial is open to all state primary schools, but schools already participating in the Maths-Whizz and Mathematics Mastery EEF projects are not eligible to participate.

Schools can register their interest to take part in this project below, or submit an Expression of Interest (office.com).

EEF has conducted two trials of the Mathematical Reasoning approach, both of which showed positive impacts on pupil attainment in maths.

In the EEF funded efficacy trial, where the training was led by the programme developers, pupils made an additional three months’ progress in maths compared to children in comparison schools (5 padlocks). The EEF then funded a follow-up effectiveness evaluation which examined the impact of a version of Mathematical Reasoning in a larger number of schools and with less involvement from the original developer, with support from the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics (NCETM). In this second trial, pupils who received Mathematical Reasoning made the equivalent of one additional month’s progress in maths, on average, compared to other children (4 padlocks). In this trial, rather than delivering the training directly, the programme developers trained Maths Hub teachers who then delivered the teacher training to participating schools. The efficacy trial full report is here and effectiveness trial here.

The University of Oxford have considered how they can scale Mathematical Reasoning, in a way that is closer to its original form, which led to the development of an asynchronous online teacher training course to train teachers in the Mathematical Reasoning approach. EEF ran a short pilot evaluation of this training, to assess its evidence of promise, feasibility, and readiness to be trialled in a larger number of schools. EEF is now re-trialling the programme at effectiveness level to assess the impact of the programme as delivered in this way at scale.

The project will be evaluated by the NFER using a two-arm setting-level randomised effectiveness trial design. This means that schools that sign up are randomly assigned to one of two groups: the ​‘delivery’ group, who implement the programme being tested; or the control group, where practice continues as normal.

The aim of the evaluation will be to assess the impact of the Mathematical Reasoning programme on Y2 pupils’ maths attainment using the GL Assessment Progress Test in Maths measure (the primary outcome). The trial will also evaluate the impact of the Mathematical Reasoning programme on some more specific areas of maths from the same measure, including fluency in facts and procedures, fluency in conceptual understanding, problem-solving, and mathematical reasoning (secondary outcome). An Implementation and Process evaluation will be conducted alongside the impact evaluation to explore how schools implement the programme, particularly exploring the acceptability and fidelity of the newly developed online training model when implemented at scale.