Is there a point? Teachers’ perceptions of a policy incentivizing the study of advanced mathematics

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dc.contributor.authorPrendergast, Mark
dc.contributor.authorO'Meara, Niamh
dc.contributor.authorTreacy, Paraic
dc.date.accessioned2020-07-30T15:34:25Z
dc.date.available2020-07-30T15:34:25Z
dc.date.issued2020-07-09
dc.date.updated2020-07-30T12:25:16Z
dc.description.abstractA growing body of international research has highlighted the importance of students studying mathematics at an advanced level. In Ireland, the subject has been assigned a special status with the introduction of an education policy called the Bonus Points Initiative (BPI) in 2012. Students are now awarded an extra 25 points in their final State examination results if they achieve ≥40% in advanced/Higher Level (HL) mathematics. This incentive has had a noticeable impact and the numbers opting for HL mathematics in the final State examination have increased from 15.8% in 2011 to 32.9% in 2019. While this is undoubtedly a positive development, there has been little research about any knock-on effects regarding the teaching and learning of the subject. This article examines HL mathematics teachers’ (n = 266) perceptions of the BPI. The findings reveal many mixed opinions with more teachers (46%) agreeing with the initiative than disagreeing (27%), recognizing advantages such as increasing numbers and rewarding students. However, issues perceived by teachers such as questionable student motivation and the negative impact on the pace of lessons appear to be key reasons for a majority of teachers recommending a review (56%) or discontinuation (23%) of the initiative.en
dc.description.sponsorshipTrinity College Dublin (Arts and Social Sciences Benefactions Fund)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationPrendergast, M., O’Meara, N. and Treacy, P. (2020) 'Is there a point? Teachers’ perceptions of a policy incentivizing the study of advanced mathematics', Journal of Curriculum Studies, (18 pp). doi: 10.1080/00220272.2020.1790666en
dc.identifier.doi10.1080/00220272.2020.1790666en
dc.identifier.endpage18en
dc.identifier.issn0022-0272
dc.identifier.journaltitleJournal of Curriculum Studiesen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/10343
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherTaylor & Francisen
dc.relation.urihttps://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00220272.2020.1790666
dc.rights© 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Curriculum Studies on 09 July 2020, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00220272.2020.1790666en
dc.subjectCurriculumen
dc.subjectTrendsen
dc.subjectPerformanceen
dc.subjectEducation policyen
dc.subjectMathematics educationen
dc.subjectIncentivesen
dc.subjectTeachers’ perceptionsen
dc.titleIs there a point? Teachers’ perceptions of a policy incentivizing the study of advanced mathematicsen
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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