" natural or innate " Maths ability

[livmum]

Long time since I posted. Hypothetical question.: State Academy secondary run "maths scholarship" which pupils sit before entering school. If get scholarship which based on complex word problems then get 2 hours maths per week sessions after school and 1:1 sessions plus fast track to GCSE. Asperger child doesn't pass test as inferencing problems/difficulty with complex word problems doesn't get scholarship but still "attaining higher than others in scholarship set. Not allowed to access those after school lessons as not scholarship. Child is level 7.2-7.4 at year 7. No child in scholarship is apparently above level 8. Some are much lower. Scholarship set also appears to be an express set or top set . Asked why child and indeed others also performing at that level ( ie above 7) can't access scholarship extra lessons- doesn't have "innate maths ability" as didn't pass scholarship test. They refer to example of music scholarships where parents complain as child is high grade in music but doesn't get scholarship as not innate ability just lots of tutoring. Child has not been tutored in maths and is 7.4 despite lack of extra input. Yes parent can argue that may be disability discrimination if no reasonable adjustments with the test. But take out the Aspergers- there are a handful of children without a dx but have those type of levels. Isn't this a type of 11 Plus selection that will affect a whole school career by the back door? Is there such a thing as "innate ability in maths?" I know what I think as I spent some time researching this "idea" of natural ability in maths. The school run maths music and sports scholarships. The maths doesn't have any impact on admission criteria. In a state school I find this fundamentally wrong. Feedback grateful particularly from teachers and maths teachers.

[Sally44]

I'm not a teacher. But I think your son does have an "innate" ability, because "despite" his speech and language difficulties [typical of his disorder], he is getting such good grades.

 

If I were you I would be seeking input from a speech and language therapist around the language of mathematics, speech and communication [all aspects of receptive and expressive speech and social communication.]

 

Do you want him to be getting the extra tuition?

Edited April 26, 2013 by Sally44

[livmum]

I do want my DD to access the extra lessons. But I also feel that the scholarship scheme they run is flawed and surely all children who are getting high grades should have access to the extra lessons so that they can be stretched.. Isn't that what state education should be about. I have decided to get my daughter seen by an expert not sure who but someone who can look at her learning style and how she should be taught. My son incidentally has dyscalculia and I had to fight for him to get the right support which he did get and so was able to get his GCSE in maths.

[bed32]

I think children can be gifted in many ways. I am sure there is such a thing as innate maths ability, in the same way you can get gifted musicians, artists and so on.

 

My son (ASD) certainly has an innate maths ability - and I think a lot of AS children do.

 

I can see the reasoning behind the way they have set out the scholarship. In NT people there is a natural connection between complex word problems, inferencing and mathematical ability. Most genuinely gifted mathematicians will share those skills. You can certainly tutor children to achieve high grades in maths fairly easily (I've done a bit of that myself) but you can't teach the understanding of numbers and abstract concepts that distinguish a true mathematician. So for NT children I can understand why they have set it up that way, and in fact I approve of the idea of extending the bright children beyond the sylabus.

 

Life gets more complex for an ASD child. Clearly they are likely to be comparatively weak on the Inferencing and word skills (my son would be). If those skills are fundamental to the purpose of the scholarship programme then it is reasonable not to make an adaptation for ASD children, but if they are just used as convenient indicators of a different innate skill then you can argue that relying on them amounts to discrimination and so is a breach of the disability act.

 

If my son were in that position then I would approach the school, pointing out that I felt the assessment criteria discriminated against AS children and asking them to make an individual assessment - a 1-1 session with the maths teacher involved should be enough to determine whether the child has the ability to profit from the programme.