The Hon. Brendan Nelson, MP
Supporting the Mathematical Sciences — Education for the Future
The Australian Government believes science education is critical for building astrong and inventive society. If Australia
is to build upon its scientific and technological capabilities it is essential to foster highquality mathematics and science teachingin our schools. Government, schools andindustry all play vital roles in building anenvironment in which most Australian children are encouraged to study science andmathematics. Our future scientific and innovation capacity is dependent upon theskills and attitudes fostered in our young
people today and we need to do more forthose who inspire our children to study science and maths. The development of strong
skills in mathematics, science and technology in primary and junior secondary school,and encouragement of students to continue
studies in these important areas, into senior secondary and tertiary years, is imperative. Numeracy is fundamental to learningat all stages of schooling and the AustralianGovernment is determined to improve national standards in numeracy, and mathematics more broadly, in our schools. Generally speaking, Australian students have performed well on tests which provide internationally comparable performance information on mathematics in recent years.
The OECD’s International Students Assessment (PISA) which tests 15 year olds ona triennial basis, showed in 2003 that Australian students perform strongly on bothmathematical literacy and problem solving,and in fact our students were outperformed
by students from only four other countries.
Against another internationally comparable instrument, Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS),

which provides information on mathematics
at years 4 and 8, Australian students scoredabove the international averages in threeout of four areas. While Australian students
have generally performed well against boththese tests, I am concerned to ensure thatstandards in mathematics and literacy are
maintained and improved.
A particular concern is that Indigenousstudents have performed (on average), significantly below non-Indigenous students on
both of these tests and more must be done
to ensure these students achieve on a parwith non-indigenous students. The Australian Government has played a leadingrole in introducing literacy and numeracy
testing for all students in Years 3, 5 and7. Minimum national standards have been
determined in these key curriculum areas
and all children have been assessed against
them. The latest available benchmark data(2003) shows that the vast majority of Australian students in Years 3 and 5 continue
to meet the national numeracy benchmarks.
However, preliminary results for Year 7 students, available for the first time in 2003,
indicate that while the majority of students
are meeting national benchmarks, notably
fewer students in Year 7 than in previous
years are meeting numeracy benchmarks.
While the benchmarks are set independently for each year level, there does notappear to be a decline in numeracy achievement in the middle years. 19% of Year 7 students failed to achieve the Year 7 numeracy
benchmark in 2003. This is broadly consistent with results from PISA 2003 that 14%of 15 year-olds in Australia did not achievea baseline proficiency in mathematical literacy.

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The Hon. Brendan Nelson, MPChart 1: Percentage of all and Indigenous students meeting the benchmarks in 2003

Most worrying are Year 7 numeracy results for Indigenous students — less thanhalf of Indigenous students met the benchmark in 2003 and the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students increases
with years spent in school.
The Australian Government has introduced an initiative which aims to improve
literacy and numeracy standards in the crucial middle years of schooling. Funding of$4.8 million is being provided for the Literacy and Numeracy in the Middle Yearsof Schooling Initiative to further support
improved literacy and numeracy outcomesto meet the needs of educationally disadvantaged students in their middle years ofschooling. The Initiative has two components:• State/Territory-based Projects: $4.0
million has been provided to State,
Catholic and Independent education
authorities to undertake cross sectoralcluster group activities in professional
learning.
These activities aim tostrengthen the link between assessment,curriculum and teaching instruction.
These projects have commenced progressively during 2005.

• National Research Projects: $0.8 million will be used to fund national research projects in priority areas.
A further $7 million was provided over
2001–2004 by the Australian Government
for the Numeracy Research and Development Initiative — the largest undertaking of numeracy research and development
in Australia. This initiative comprised
two complementary strands at national andState/Territory level, designed to investigate a broad range of teaching and learning
strategies that lead to improved numeracy
outcomes. Reports from the projects areavailable from the DEST website.
Ten State and Territory projects and four
national level projects have been undertaken since 2001 under this initiative, culminating in a series of practical research
reports that provide teachers with an understanding of how numeracy is taught inschools and what works in the classroom. A
key finding of the projects was that involvement in researching students’ mathematicalunderstandings developed teachers’ own understandings of how children think aboutmaths. Teachers involved in the projects
recognised growth in their mathematicalpedagogical knowledge and also in their own

Math matters

deeper understanding of the mathematicalconcepts they were teaching.
It is clear that our children’s future rests
largely in the hands of schools, teachers andschool leaders. I am committed to promoting the highest standards amongst teachers,
and in rewarding excellence for outstanding
work on behalf of our students.
On 21 July this year I announced a $33
million boost for science and maths teachingin order to revitalise Australian classrooms
and to assist schools to develop new approaches to science, technology and mathematics education. In the first round of theAustralian Schools Innovation in Science,
Technology and Mathematics (ASISTM)
Project, the Australian Government will
provide $9 million to directly target theteaching of sciences, technology and mathematics. Initially, 623 schools and their partner organisations from the scientific community, universities, industry, education authorities and the wider community will beinvolved in the project. ASISTM is alreadyachieving unprecedented collaboration between Australia’s schools and universities.
35 of Australia’s 39 universities are involvedin the first round of projects. These universities will be directly involved in stimulating and enabling a range of exciting andinnovative science, technology and maths
teaching and learning initiatives in schools.
They will bring to school projects leadingedge knowledge, fresh perspective and enthusiasm, and state-of-the-art approaches.
Mathematics is well represented in round
one projects, for example:• Queensland University of Technology(QUT) and other project partners,
through its Centre for Learning Innovation, is leading a project with a number of Queensland schools with significant Indigenous populations, to develop
skills to teach remote Indigenous students in basic number understandings.
• QUT, through its School of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, are also leading a project229

aimed at improving mathematics learning and teaching of Indigenous studentsin Townsville.
• Australian Catholic University, throughthe Strathfield Campus, is a partner organisation in the Outback Maths
project. This project aims to extend
and consolidate teacher understandingof mathematics and make its teaching
more relevant and motivating in projectschools in Western NSW by using mathematical language and content embedded in Aboriginal culture.
• Latrobe University and Victoria University are partnering a cluster of four
schools in Werribee in the WITS Way
to Learning project which aims to raise
the level of academic and social engagement by focusing on new learning models in numeracy, investigating the useof mathematics in a variety of work
places, and improving teacher questioning techniques.
• Curtin University Mathematics Department is partnering with six Western
Australian schools in the ASISTM tothe Develop Visual Reasoning project,which will provide visual, spatial, tactile and kinaesthetic experiences enabling students to appreciate mathematics as a process, language andproblem solving tool. This projectwill involve trainee teachers and a‘mathematician-in-residence’.
• Other innovative maths projects include Developing Real World Mathematicians (NSW), Improving Students
Achievements in Mathematics throughPedagogical Innovation (NSW), andMaths Alive — Teacher Maths Skills
for Life (TAS). Other ASISTM projects
also have a cross-curricular focus that
includes mathematics.
The ASISTM initiative will ultimately
employ around 1,300 teacher associates(university students, researchers and otherspecialists in these fields) who will provide
project support, excite student interest and230

The Hon. Brendan Nelson, MP

act as role models. It is a key elementof the Australian Government’s response to
the independent 2003 Review of Teaching
and Teacher Education. Further details areavailable on the ASISTM website: http://www.asistm.edu.au.
Another initiative which also encourages
excellence in the teaching of mathematics is
the National Awards for Quality Schooling(NAQS) worth almost $1 million annually.
Winners are selected in a number of criteria
including innovation, science, mathematics
and technology. However, excellent teachers
are often the product of excellent training.
It was with this principle in mind that on
17 February I announced a national inquiry
into teacher education. The Inquiry is being conducted by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Education
and Vocational Training. It will examine
and report on the quality and adequacyof teacher education courses at Australian
universities to ensure that all graduates areready to meet the demands of teaching inthe 21st century. This wide-ranging Inquiry
addresses many elements of teachers’ education, including the examination of therole and input of schools and their staff
into the preparation of trainee teachers,
the adequacy of funding of teacher training
courses by university administrations, andthe degree to which teacher trainees arebeing prepared effectively to deal with thechallenges they will face in the classroom.
I expect that the Inquiry’s findings will
help the profession to improve the quality oftraining teachers receive, which will in turnassist them in providing Australian students
with an excellent educational experience. I
am also concerned that there are currently
different Year 12 certificates in each state
and territory. There are differences in completion requirements, curriculum, the number of hours of study, compulsory subjects,and subject choice and patterns. It cannot be said with any confidence at all thatthe standard of a year 12 chemistry examin Adelaide will be the same as that of Sydney. I have commissioned the AustralianCouncil for Educational Research (ACER)
to develop options for an Australian Certificate of Education, to ensure national consistency. The study, to be led by Professor Geoff Masters, CEO of ACER, is animportant first step towards implementing
an Australian Certificate of Education, andI look forward to receiving the results ofACER’s work by the end of this year. If
we are to be effective in our teaching ofmathematics at all levels of schooling weneed to ensure that our universities are attracting and generating enough mathematical sciences graduates to meet our currentand future needs for maths teachers and forother careers where maths skills are essential.
Having knowledge of the mathematicalsciences is critical to young people’s life
chances, and it is also critical to research,innovation and industry in Australia. The
role of research, innovation and technological change in driving economic growth is
now widely accepted in Australia. As theAustralian Mathematics Society in its submission to the Higher Education Review observed, the creation of complex/intelligent
systems, photonics and nanotechnology aspriority research areas will not lead to a
rapid increase in Australian contribution tothem unless they are supported by strong
mathematics and physical sciences in thehigher education sector. While it is encouraging to see that the number of students
studying mathematics at university is increasing (Table 1) it is not clear if this willmeet the demands of industry, research andfor maths teachers. Women’s enrolments
in mathematics have remained at the samelevel in recent years, effectively reducing thepossibility of strong growth in the mathematical sciences. The Australian Government has moved quickly to support a number of initiatives designed to improve our expertise in the mathematical sciences. ThisMath matters

is in keeping with our policy of maintaining strength in the areas of national importance in line with the thrust of Backing Australia’s Ability.
One such initiative is The International
Centre of Excellence for Education Mathematics, announced in the 2003/04 FederalBudget. It is a major initiative, intended toraise Australia’s profile as the leading expert in education in mathematics. The centre will strengthen mathematics educationand its contemporary application in Australia, undertake research to support its
activities, and improve mathematics education in Australian schools by facilitating professional development of teachers,

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and developing resources and materials forteachers and students. Another initiative,
the Australian Science and Mathematics
School (ASMS) was opened in 2003 as a
new purpose-built senior secondary school
within the campus of Flinders University forselected students in years 10 to 12. The
Australian Government contributed $5 million in 2002–2009 towards the building of
the school and a further grant supported therelease of seven staff to work with ASMS
staff to produce a curriculum frameworkand to develop a new pedagogy for mathematics and science education.

All Students studying Mathematics at Australian Universities 2001-2004

Table 1: All Students in Mathematics Field of Education
Source: DEST Higher Education Statistics 2005
In August 2004, the Government alsoannounced an audit of science, engineering and technology (SET) skills in
response to concerns expressed by industry and the academic research community about SET skills issues.
Themain objective of the audit is to determine
the extent to which Australia’s current andfuture industry and research body needs
are being met by the higher education andvocational education and training (VET)
sector in the supply of science, engineeringand technology graduates. The audit willassess the current supply of SET skills in theshort, medium and long term and provide a
detailed analysis of employer demand, skills
needs and shortages, recruitment issues andlong-term skills needs. It will also examine
youth attitudes on studying science, engineering and technology subjects; analyse
the supply of skills from schools, VET andhigher education sectors; and review population, immigration and SET related policy
initiatives in OECD countries which may
draw Australian students, with SET skills,
overseas. The audit is being informed bya systemic literature review. Views fromkey stakeholders have been sought through232

The Hon. Brendan Nelson, MPa public consultation process and written
submissions. A high level steering committee with representatives from the science community, the university sector, thelearned academies, the VET sector, schools
and industry bodies has oversight of thisaudit. I understand that the President of
your Society, Professor Michael Cowling,in the recent Gazette (Volume 32, no2) expressed members’ concerns about aspects ofthe proposed Research Quality Framework.
In particular, concern was expressed about
the possibility that all scientific disciplines
would be treated in the same way and thatlower publication and citation rates in themathematical sciences compared to othersciences might be used as evidence against
the mathematics discipline. Let me assure you this is not the case. An Expert
Advisory Group of the Research Quality
Framework has acknowledged the issue ofa the sensitivity of the research assessment
to discipline area and a series of workshops
have taken place earlier this year with eachof four National Academies to discuss research assessment in a discipline context. A
follow-up workshop was also held with theNational Academies Forum to discuss theimplications of interdisciplinary researchon quality assessment. These discussions
proved highly valuable and the outcomes
were considered by the Expert group in the
preparation of its two discussion papers todate. The Expert Group will continue toexamine discipline differences related to theassessment of research quality and impact.
Mathematics is an enabling science andadvances in science and engineering are dependent on research in mathematics, statistics and modelling. I look forward to theoutcomes of the current National Strategic
Review of Mathematical Sciences Research
being conducted through the National Committee on Mathematics (Australian Academy of Science), which the government issupporting through the Australian ResearchCommittee. With the initiatives my government has taken and is continuing to take,
I believe that mathematics education will
be greatly enhanced for the benefit of ourstudents, the development of an innovation
process for the pursuit of scientific advances
and to ensure the competitiveness of our industry in the global marketplace in the future.

Minister for Education Science and Training, Canberra Office, Suite MF24, Parliament House, Canberra
ACT 2600