The National Assessment Program for Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is intended to assess all Australian students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to ensure equity and inclusion. This paper explores the extent to which equity and inclusion are achieved for students with disability through NAPLAN reporting. Document analysis of publicly accessible NAPLAN…

The early elementary school years are widely understood to be critical to a child developing a strong foundation for future academic success. Children arrive at kindergarten from diverse settings and experiences, and not all of them are "kindergarten ready." Kindergarten readiness refers to the skills and abilities needed to succeed in…

Drawing upon recent theorising of numbers and data, and applications to schooling, this paper reveals how tensions between more accountability-oriented logics, and more contextually-situated conceptions of engagement with data, played out in one school in a regional community in northern Queensland, Australia. The research reveals that at the same…

This study examined the impact of an intervention, focused on professional noticing of children's conceptual development in whole number and arithmetic reasoning, on preservice elementary teachers' (PSETs') professional noticing skills, attitudes toward mathematics, and mathematical knowledge for teaching mathematics. A video-based professional…

Thirty years ago, Hubert M. Blalock Jr. published an article in "Teaching Sociology" about the importance of teaching statistics. We honor Blalock's legacy by assessing how using Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) in statistics classes can enhance student learning and increase statistical literacy among social science gradaute students. In…

This report explores the definition and selection of science and technology-related (STEM) jobs in-depth. Examples from the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia are described, with similarities and differences highlighted. [This document was produced by the author(s) based on their research for "What Is STEM? The Need for Unpacking…

Statistical literacy is a vital component of numeracy. Students need to learn to critically evaluate and interpret statistical information if they are to become informed citizens. This article examines a Year 5 unit of work that uses the data collection and analysis cycle within a sustainability context.

Recent research has shown that young children are capable of engaging in data modeling and making informed judgments, an aspect of the mathematics curriculum not previously considered integral to early numeracy. In an Australian study, a sample of 21 highly able Grade 1 students was engaged in a series of investigations where they developed their…

This case report describes the methods used to investigate a study concerning the Literacy and Numeracy assessment practices of primary teachers and the impact of educational reform (Blueprint 1). Qualitative case study methods framed by an ethnological approach were useful in the study, and the participants were bounded by the context of the…

Reach for the Stars is AAMT's data-collection activity for National Literacy and Numeracy Week, funded by the Australian Government. This year's activity was on the theme "More2books" and many thousands of students and their teachers explored the mathematics of the books in their classrooms. This article presents a version of the…

This paper examines how international, large-scale skills assessments (ILSAs) engage with the broader societies they seek to serve and improve. It looks particularly at the discursive work that is done by different interest groups and the media through which the findings become part of public conversations and are translated into usable form in…

The purpose of this current study was to examine and document the practices of soft skills (communication, IT, numeracy, learning how to learn, problem solving, working with others, and subject-specific competencies) among English as foreign language (EFL) student teachers at one public university teacher education program in Jambi, Indonesia. The…

Current definitions of STEM skills are inconsistent and not specific enough to inform education and skill policies and initiatives, potentially leading to a number of unsubstantiated and uncoordinated responses. There is a danger of generating a domestic oversupply of graduates in science, mathematics, engineering and technology while ignoring the…

Math is everywhere! Mathematics is "a way of describing the world--a way of thinking, knowing, and problem-solving" (Virginia's Early Childhood Development Alignment Project 2008, 83). Infants and toddlers are natural mathematicians. Even without adult support, infants and toddlers use math concepts to make sense of their world. An important role…

Traditional experimental paradigms have focused on executing experiments in a lab setting and eventually moving successful findings to larger experiments in the field. However, data from field experiments can also be used to inform new lab experiments. Now, with the advent of large student populations using internet-based learning software, online…