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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Educ.
Sec. Special Educational Needs
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2024.1453156

A pilot study of the effectiveness of the Maths For Life programme for children with Down syndrome

Provisionally accepted
Katie A Gilligan-Lee Katie A Gilligan-Lee 1Karen McGuigan Karen McGuigan 2Holly Snellgrove Holly Snellgrove 3Jo Van Herwegen Jo Van Herwegen 4*
  • 1 University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
  • 2 Other, Surrey, United Kingdom
  • 3 University of Surrey, Guildford, South East England, United Kingdom
  • 4 Institute of Education, University College London, London, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Abstract Background: Beyond educational achievement, mathematics is essential for everyday living, e.g., telling the time, paying with money, using timetables. However, many children from neurodiverse populations fail to acquire basic mathematics skills in school. Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate if and how the Maths For Life programme, a new mathematical curriculum designed to help struggling learners, influences mathematics performance in children with Down syndrome. Methods and Procedure: Participants included 32 individuals with Down syndrome aged 5-to-24 years (Mage = 12.92 years, SD = 5.8). The study had a pre-post intervention design. The intervention group (n=15) completed the Maths For Life programme (administered by parent/guardian) in addition to their normal school classroom activities and the business-as-usual control group (n=17) completed their school mathematics classes only. Both groups completed a mathematics assessment pre/post the 4-month intervention period. Results: Following the programme, the intervention group had higher accuracy and independence scores compared to the business-as-usual control group. Conclusions and implications: The Maths For Life programme can help individuals with Down syndrome to improve their mathematical ability and independence, evidence that supports further testing this programme in schools. Improving children’s accurate and independent application of mathematics is vital for everyday living.

    Keywords: Maths For Life Programme, Down Syndrome, mathematics intervention, Mathematical Independence, parent-led intervention

    Received: 22 Jun 2024; Accepted: 15 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Gilligan-Lee, McGuigan, Snellgrove and Van Herwegen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Jo Van Herwegen, Institute of Education, University College London, London, WC1H 0AL, England, United Kingdom

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.