All year 1 students should do a universal numeracy screening to make sure they can get support before they fall behind in mathematics, a new report recommends.
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While Australian states and territories are gradually introducing year 1 phonics checks, a research report from Centre for Independent Studies suggests a similar check should be done for numeracy in term 1 and term 3.
The report author Kelly Norris said schools did a lot of assessments in mathematics but there was no consistent approach to screening for early number sense.
"The universal screening is really about improving processes for identifying kids who are likely to go on to struggle," Mrs Norris said.
"It's about improving education. It's not about accountability or about reporting. It's about good educational practice."
It was important to have a check before the NAPLAN testing in year 3 because early difficulties in mathematics could begin a cycle of failure, she said.
Results from NAPLAN 2023 showed 10 per cent of students needed additional support in maths in year 3. Only 20 per cent of students who fall behind in maths ever catch up, the report said.
"By waiting until year 3 we are waiting for them to fail to some extent," Mrs Norris said.
"And we know that those children who then have difficulty in year 3 on NAPLAN, the vast majority of them will go through to experience that level of failure right through their schooling, right up to our international testing in 15 year olds."
The check would look at a year 1 student's ability to read, write and say numbers up to 100.
It would also check their understanding of the sequence of numbers and their knowledge about addition and subtraction.
Data would be centrally collected and used by schools to plan, evaluate programs and track students' progress.
Mrs Norris said Australian schools typically were not providing intensive support in numeracy that they might provide in literacy.
"We have some really good tools available both in screening and in intervention in literacy and what we're hearing from teachers is, 'Well, what about numeracy? I want to be able to identify these children early. I want to be able to provide support but what tools are there ... that are actually designed for my context?'"