Research vision, mission and strategy

Research vision, mission and strategy

Our vision, mission and strategy for research at Cambridge Mathematics help structure our approach to championing and securing a world-class mathematics education for all students from 3 to 19 years old, applicable to both national and international contexts and based on evidence from research and practice. 

Vision

To expand access to education supporting all levels and applications of mathematics throughout society. We aim to design, refine and disseminate innovative tools, resources, methodologies and design principles which further the connected understanding, integration and application of mathematical ideas.

Mission

We contribute to the overall mission of Cambridge Mathematics by developing a strong research basis for their products and services, ensuring they are trustworthy, useful and impactful for learners, teachers, researchers and educational designers.

What we do

Through our research we aim to increase the value of Cambridge Mathematics’ products and services. We aim to ensure that these products and services support the strategic goals of Cambridge University Press & Assessment more broadly and meet the expectations of internal and external strategic stakeholders with respect to quality and practicality (i.e. trustworthiness, usability, utility and impact) through the development, monitoring and evaluation of Cambridge Mathematics’ content design, writing and analytical methodology. We help to increase the value of Cambridge Mathematics’ knowledge products to all stakeholders by developing and maintaining connections to the wider community of mathematics education researchers and cultivating their engagement and input. We seek to expand our capacity for impact in both these directions through grant development and external partnerships. Being embedded within Cambridge Mathematics allows us to provide long-term strategic direction for the knowledge development work which is key to the market value of their knowledge-based products and services.

Strategy and impact

Research supports the overall mission of Cambridge Mathematics by shaping and strengthening their products, services, and evidence base. To contribute to the wider strategic outcomes of Cambridge Mathematics, we aim to strengthen the value and impact of products and services by:

1. Grounding products and services in evidence
   Design and content research are the core of our processes, ensuring that all products, services and methodologies are directly informed by evidence from research and classroom practice.
2. Refining and assuring quality
   We conduct evaluation research to enhance the trustworthiness, usability, utility and impact of Cambridge Mathematics' work, providing stakeholders with confidence in the value of their products and services.
3. Shaping and advancing the field of mathematics education and its place in the broader curriculum
   We aim to contribute to academic research and thought leadership, publishing theoretical and empirical research when our work has wider application, so that Cambridge Mathematics contributes not only to mathematics education but also to STEM education; climate education; digital educational technologies including emerging technologies such as AI, AR and VR; knowledge management; and related fields.
4. Expanding capacity for impact through partnerships
   We focus on grant development and external partnerships to help address long-term strategic goals for educational impact which may not be completely funded by Cambridge Mathematics' short-term commercial activities.
5. Providing long-term direction
   We continually track developments in mathematics education and educational technology in order to guide the knowledge development work which underpins the market value of Cambridge Mathematics' products and services.

Impact model

Beneficiaries and stakeholders

Beneficiaries of our work might include educational designers engaged in curriculum or resource design, teachers, students, teacher educators or policy makers. Stakeholder groups include the direct users of the Cambridge Mathematics Framework (CMF) from the participant groups but also the organisations and individuals who invest time and resources in CMF design and evaluation, e.g. the University of Cambridge, our external reviewers and collaborators.

Impact and evidence

• Cambridge Mathematics’ curriculum development partnerships and collaborations have had an impact on over 10 million students in 48 countries across 6 continents. We cannot currently state the exact number of students and teachers in systems impacted by our curriculum revision projects
• Measures for impact vary according to data available on a project-by-project basis. We aim to undertake appropriate impact evaluation steps when opportunities are available. Our approach to impact evaluation is described in Evaluating the Cambridge Mathematics Framework: Perspective and approaches. To date, fine-grained impact evaluation opportunities have not been available for our large-scale projects, but we receive estimates of students, teachers, schools and jurisdictions impacted when available.

Projects contributing to impact

International curriculum development and reform:

• Mathematics curriculum of a small country, all levels
• Australia: ACARA probability and statistics review
• UNICEF Learning Passport analysis and advising
• Cambridge International Education IGCSE mapping
• India: Early Years India collaboration
• ASU MathSpine
• A textbook series

Teaching and learning resources:

• Espressos
• Minecraft EDU mathematics games
• Professional learning textbooks
• JourneyMaths beta

Mathematical socio-cultural influences of Cambridge Mathematics staff past and present.