PRISM-2 Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Mathematics learning disabilities from childhood to adolescence. The Premature Infants' Skills in Mathematics-2 (PRISM-2) Study.
IRAS ID
177090
Contact name
Samantha Johnson
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Leicester
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 30 days
Research summary
Each year in England, 13,000 babies are born very premature, before 32 weeks of pregnancy. Very premature birth leaves children at high risk for learning difficulties later in life and up to one in three will need extra help in school. Of all school subjects, very premature children are most likely to have difficulties with maths. Maths skills are related to a person’s lifelong success in education and employment, so it is important to try and improve premature children’s achievement in maths. To do so, we need to understand what particular areas of maths very premature children struggle with at different ages and what the causes are. We will carry out a detailed study of the learning and maths skills of very premature children at 14 years of age to find out what areas of maths they struggle with and why. We will also find out how very premature children's maths skills have developed from primary to secondary school. With parents consent, children will be assessed at school over one day. The assessment will involve a series of activities designed to assess adolescents' maths, memory, attention, problem solving and had-eye coordination skills. This study will provide much-needed information about the maths difficulties of very premature children and, importantly, about the types of support they need in school. Ultimately, we will use this information to develop a web-based programme to show teachers how to support premature children’s learning in the classroom.
REC name
East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EM/0284
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jul 2015
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion