New Professional Development Course Equips Educators to Better Support Students Building Math Skills
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If you’ve watched your child struggle with numbers that seem to come naturally to their classmates, you know that sinking feeling when homework time turns into tears. You’ve probably wondered whether something fundamental is missing—and what it would take for someone to truly understand how your child’s brain processes math. That instinct is right, and new research is finally giving educators better tools to recognize and respond to these differences.
TL;DR
A new SASC-authorized course helps educators support students developing mathematical thinking skills using research-informed approaches.
Led by Dr. Kinga Morsanyi from Loughborough University, the program features findings from the Numeralis Project screening tool.
The course addresses how math learning differences often co-occur with dyslexia and interact with math anxiety affecting 40% of students.
Research shows just two simple tasks can identify children needing support, enabling earlier and more targeted intervention.
With 6-8% of children affected and research 30 years behind dyslexia studies, this training helps close a critical knowledge gap.
UK Course Offers Research-Informed Math Support Training
A new professional development course is helping educators understand and support children who are developing mathematical thinking skills differently from their peers. The “Dyscalculia in Focus” course, authorized by SASC (SpLD Assessment Standards Committee) and delivered by Patoss, runs from November 2025 through November 2026 as a distance learning program.
Led by Dr. Kinga Morsanyi, a Senior Lecturer in Mathematical Cognition at Loughborough University, the £39 course explores the cognitive, emotional, and contextual factors that influence how children build mathematical understanding. Participants learn evidence-based approaches to assessment and intervention that go beyond traditional methods.
Numeralis Project Brings Cutting-Edge Research to Practice
A key focus of the course is the Numeralis Project, a research-driven screening tool that helps identify children who may need additional support developing math skills. Unlike traditional assessments, Numeralis uses 14 carefully selected tasks to create a complete picture of a student’s mathematical profile, highlighting both strengths and areas for growth. This matters for parents because early identification means earlier support—and understanding what’s actually happening is the first step toward effective intervention.
Research from Loughborough University’s Centre for Mathematical Cognition found that just two simple tasks—comparing digits and matching dot sets—can reliably identify children who need targeted support. This kind of streamlined screening makes it possible to reach more children before frustration compounds into math anxiety.
Understanding the Full Picture of Math Learning Differences
The course addresses crucial connections that many educators miss. Dr. Morsanyi’s research explores how math learning differences often co-occur with dyslexia, and how math anxiety—which affects approximately 40% of students according to OECD data—interacts with underlying skill development. Her April 2025 research even revealed that parents’ own fear of math can affect their children’s achievement.
For parents, this means a proper assessment should look beyond surface behaviors. A child who freezes during math tests may be experiencing anxiety, developing number sense, or both—and effective support requires understanding which factors are at play. The course equips educators to make these distinctions.
Key Takeaways:
1
Research-based screening advances: The Numeralis Project uses 14 carefully selected tasks to create comprehensive profiles of children's mathematical strengths and growth areas.
2
Co-occurrence matters for support: Math learning differences frequently appear alongside dyslexia and math anxiety, requiring educators to understand the full picture for effective intervention.
3
Earlier identification enables growth: Simple screening tasks can now reliably identify children needing support, allowing targeted intervention before frustration compounds into anxiety.
What This Means for Families and Schools
With approximately 6-8% of children experiencing math learning differences—at least one child in every classroom of 30—the need for trained educators is significant. Yet research into math learning differences is estimated to be 30 years behind reading research. Courses like this one are beginning to close that gap.
The Numeralis Project continues collecting data across age groups with the goal of making standardized screening available from primary school through university. For parents navigating math struggles today, these developments signal that better understanding and more targeted support are on the horizon. The key takeaway: the brain builds mathematical skills through specific practice and proper instruction, and the earlier children get the right kind of support, the stronger those neural pathways become.
Every child deserves to know that their brain can build mathematical skills—that numbers aren’t some mysterious gift given to the lucky few. When educators truly understand how different children develop number sense, they stop labeling and start developing. But too often, the system settles for managing symptoms rather than building the foundational skills that actually change how the brain processes math. If you’re tired of waiting for schools to catch up with the research, the Learning Success All Access Program offers a free trial that includes a personalized Action Plan—and you keep that plan even if you decide it’s not the right fit.
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