| Summary: | Contextualisation Engaging in school-effectiveness research in Malta is a relatively new activity. Initial research has found that schools do make a difference for literacy in both Maltese and English (Mifsud, Milton, Brooks and Hutchison, 2000). Further research, particularly in mathematics is clearly needed as this curriculum context constitutes both a basic skill, and an area of study, that can be related to future career prospects (Hutchison and Brooks, 1998). This research note reports the beginning of a ground–breaking study, in the Maltese context, into pupil progress in maths education and the role that teacher effectiveness may play in that progress. Abstract: Value-added measures are one indicator of school effectiveness. This research note poses the question of ‘How are pupil progress and teacher effectiveness related?’ It asks this in the context of the Maltese education system by tracking pupil progress in primary school mathematics, from year 1 to year 2, in relation to teacher instructional style and underlying pedagogical orientation. To do so it outlines a three level school effectiveness study. This will adopt a multi-stage sample involving approximately 2,100 pupils and 99 teachers based in 40 schools of different types. The study will employ the Mathematics In Primary Schools (MIPS) methodology as its working framework, informed by the view that consistency, at the school level, involves an alignment between effective instruction, the nature of the curriculum materials themselves, grouping procedures and teacher behaviour.
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