Identifying and Analysing Processes in NSW Public Schooling Producing Outstanding Educational Outcomes in Mathematics

Abstract

This paper reports on a project that identified and explored the factors leading to outstanding mathematics outcomes in junior secondary public education in NSW for students across the ability spectrum. Once a sample of mathematics faculties was identified by drawing upon the extensive quantitative and qualitative data-bases within the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET), seven intensive case studies were conducted to identify faculty-level factors. Seven common themes are reported and these are the strong sense of team, staff qualifications and experience, teaching style, time on task, assessment practices, expectations of students, and teachers caring for students.