The observation is overwhelming. According to the Scientific Council of National Education, the recent progress of students in their understanding of numbers is largely insufficient when they enter sixth grade. In a three-page alert notethe members of the “Evaluations and interventions” working group point out major shortcomings among children, particularly with fractions.
“At the start of sixth grade, most students are unaware of the meaning of the simplest fractions,” underlines the report, noting that only 22% of students correctly place the fraction 1/2 on a line graduated from 0 to 5. “ Only half of the students find the correct answer to the question: “How many quarter hours are there in 3/4 of an hour?”,” the study also notes.
A low level that affects all environments
Confusion between different types of number, lack of knowledge of the comma, decimal notation… The gaps are numerous and affect all walks of life. “In REP, the error rate with fractions reaches 85%. Excluding REP and in private schools, it remains very high, around 75%,” the report specifies.
Among the worrying factors, the absence of positive developments for three years. Worse, the level of ignorance of fractions continues to play out later in school. “This lack of improvement suggests that much more vigorous action must be taken to better teach numbers and fractions in primary schools,” the note suggests.
Among the recommendations, experts suggest an earlier introduction of mathematical concepts, from the start of elementary school. As a reminder, according to the international TIMMS survey, France was one of the countries at the bottom of the pack regarding the level of its CM1 and 4th grade students in mathematics.