Poor numeracy costs the UK economy up to £33 billion each year, and the Centre for Early Mathematics Learning aims to stop that leak before it starts. The problem is that children who fall behind in maths during the first years of school rarely catch up, and the pandemic widened these gaps further. Despite decades of research identifying which early skills predict later success, that knowledge has not translated into better classroom practice. CEML will tackle five specific barriers: how maths foundations emerge before school, what drives learning during primary years, how home and preschool environments shape development, how to design resources based on actual learning processes, and how to change what teachers actually do. The centre brings together 21 experts from psychology, education, social policy, learning sciences, and economics across seven institutions. They will run large-scale longitudinal studies and interventions, working directly with teachers and parents to co-produce resources and professional development. If successful, the centre could shift early maths education from guesswork to evidence-based practice, improving life outcomes for millions of children while reducing a multibillion-pound drag on the economy.
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The Centre for Early Mathematics Learning (CEML) will transform our understanding of children's mathematics learning during the early years, and equip educators with the knowledge, tools and confidence to help children succeed. Success with mathematics is important for individuals and the wider economy. Higher levels of numeracy are associated with enhanced employment prospects and improved quality of life. However, many people struggle to develop the mathematics skills that they need to succeed, and this impacts economic productivity around the world. For example, the annual cost to the UK economy of poor mathematical skills is estimated to be up to £33bn (Smith, 2017). Difficulties with mathematics emerge from the start of school and once children have fallen behind their peers many struggle to catch-up. Disadvantage gaps have been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing demand for effective interventions to support young children from all backgrounds. Consequently, improving the quality of early mathematics education has been recognised as a priority in the UK, and around the world. To ensure current and future generations of children develop the mathematics skills they need, we must understand the complex personal and environmental factors that influence mathematics learning and use this to design effective educational activities. In recent decades, advances have been made in identifying basic skills that predict success in mathematics learning, and yet these advances have not had positive impact on how we support children's early mathematics learning. This is a costly and missed opportunity, with far-reaching implications for individuals and wider society. CEML will take an interdisciplinary approach and learn from best practices internationally to address five challenges that currently prevent us from providing children from all backgrounds with the support they need: 1. How do the foundations of mathematics learning emerge in the preschool years? 2. What are the causal mechanisms that drive mathematics learning during primary school? 3. How do children's experiences in early educational settings and at home influence their mathematical development? 4. How do we design effective educational resources based on an understanding of mathematical learning processes? 5. What are the most effective ways to impact educational practice? CEML will bring together 21 interdisciplinary experts from seven institutions incorporating insights and approaches from psychology, education, social policy, learning sciences and economics. We will employ a range of rigorous methodological approaches, including large-scale longitudinal and intervention studies as well as qualitative and mixed methods research, to provide multiple perspectives on understanding children's mathematics learning. We will attend closely to principles of equality, diversity and inclusion as they apply to families, teachers and schools, and consider the impact of socioeconomic background on children's learning. Our research will follow the highest standards of ethical approval and safeguarding. We will engage with end-users in all our research, working alongside teachers and early years practitioners to ensure that our work is informed by the needs and challenges of practice. We will co-produce effective resources to improve children's mathematics learning at home, in preschool and at school and develop high quality professional development to support parents, teachers and practitioners in using these resources. An Impact Panel of key stakeholders in early years education, including families and children, will steer our activities to ensure our work meets the needs of the early years community and drives future mathematics education policy in the UK and internationally. Career development and capacity building activities will deliver a cohort of highly trained ECRs and improve teachers' research literacy.
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