Current teacher preparation programmes, anchored in traditional school organization, do not seem capable of providing beginning teachers of mathematics with the bases that can achieve the changes needed in mathematics education. Beginning elementary teachers of mathematics are handicapped by isolated classrooms, lack of models of expert practice, their school experiences with mathematics, and their own dispositions toward mathematics.

The study sought to identify students' competence with two basic linear measurement tasks. The sample comprised 1,920 students in Standards 2, 3, and 4 (ages 8–10 years) in primary schools. Through error analysis of the tasks, responses which characterized the tasks were identified. These formed the bases for the task protocols which were used to score students' work. From the data it became evident that Standard 2 students (8-year-olds) did not have the skills as identified in the curriculum objectives.

A university training programme was developed as part of a project to improve the standard of primary level numeracy in Trinidad and Tobago. Fifty-eight primary level teachers completed training to conduct workshops and provide field supervision in developmental and remedial mathematics. The programme of work, including activities and assessment techniques, is presented. The evaluation of both the university programme and the workshop training provides a background for reviewing the project's current status.