Disadvantaged children show no gains in maths

THE maths skills of children from poorer areas have not improved despite increased resources being put into their schools, research for the Department of Education has found.

The Educational Research Centre (ERC) in Dublin assessed the maths achievement of 4,171 fourth class pupils in 130 primary schools in 2004 and found the average scores were on a par with those in the last such assessment five years earlier.

The study revealed that the achievements of pupils in schools designated as disadvantaged, which benefit from smaller class sizes and extra support teaching, were broadly similar to 1999.