The Euclid Project: Improving Middle Years Student Engagement With Mathematics Through Action Research: Final Report

This report provides the findings of a study designed to investigate the effectiveness of a NSW Department of Education Queanbeyan Network initiative to promote and support teacher action research in middle years mathematics education. The process of action research requires teachers to identify a problem of practice and formulate, carry out, and evaluate a plan of action in order to improve educational outcomes. The intent of this initiative was to address low levels of student engagement and achievement in mathematics from late primary and across the transition to the early secondary years within the Queanbeyan Network. The findings from this study indicate that the participating teachers had begun to make progress in relation to improving their practices to ultimately improve the student experience during the middle years and in the critical period of transition from primary to secondary schooling. Although varying levels of success were experienced, the teachers had begun their journeys as reflective practitioners working in partnership with colleagues within and across schools.