Have All Children Benefited? A Perspective on Curriculum Initiatives and Low Achievers

Abstract

This paper considers whether or not curriculum initiatives within England are in fact leading to qualitatively improved levels of thinking among children identified as lower achievers in arithmetic. Revisiting data from two earlier studies and introducing current data, the paper draws comparisons in the strategies that 8-year-old children use to solve a range of addition and subtraction combinations on numbers to 20. It considers the outcomes in the context of current theories of concept development and national requirements of expected levels of achievement for such children. The results suggest that these requirements and the way in which they are implemented may seriously impede these children's cognitive development in elementary arithmetic. (Author)