In the 1990s and 2000s, New Zealand governments monitored national educational performance broadly through cyclical "light-sampling" of primary school students, and the annual proportions of secondary school students who gained formal credentials. In 2008, a centre-right coalition government legislated for national standards of…

In today's competitive job market, education is increasingly touted as necessary preparation for the workplace (Joyce, Hassall, Montano, & Anes, 2006). The literature suggests that one of the most important skill sets identified by both educators and practitioners is the need for numerical competency and analytical proficiency (Joyce et…

This paper presents a user study that investigates the factors affecting student attention to user-adaptive hints during interaction with an educational computer game. The study focuses on Prime Climb, an educational game designed to provide individualized support for learning number factorization skills in the form of textual hints based on a…

This study introduces a student model and control algorithm, optimizing mathematics learning in children. The adaptive system is integrated into a computer-based training system for enhancing numerical cognition aimed at children with developmental dyscalculia or difficulties in learning mathematics. The student model consists of a dynamic…

Children struggle with mathematics for different reasons. Developmental dyscalculia and low numeracy--two kinds of mathematical difficulties--may have their roots, respectively, in poor understanding of exact non-symbolic numerosities and of symbolic numerals. This study was the first to explore whether Chinese children, despite cultural and…

The purpose of this study was to explore problem solving with kindergarten students. This line of inquiry is highly significant given that Common Core State Standards emphasize deep, conceptual understanding in mathematics as well as problem solving in kindergarten. However, there is little research on problem solving with kindergarten students.…

Higher level vocational education and training (VET) programmes are facing rapid change and intensifying challenges. What type of training is needed to meet the needs of a changing economies? How should the programmes be funded? How should they be linked to academic and university programmes? How can employers and unions be engaged? This report…

Indigenous students in the middle-school years who experience difficulties in basic mathematics are a particularly vulnerable group. During these years gaps in performance between educationally disadvantaged students and their peers widen, potentially leading to ongoing economic and social disadvantage. This proposal reports on a teaching…

This paper reviews recent literature on teacher identity in order to propose an operational framework that can be used to investigate the formation and development of numeracy teacher identities. The proposed framework is based on Van Zoest and Bohl's (2005) framework for mathematics teacher identity with a focus on those characteristics thought…

Numeracy is a fundamental component of the Australian National Curriculum as a General Capability identified in each F-10 subject. In this paper we report on an aspect of a larger project aimed at investigating how effective cross-curricular numeracy practice can be implemented within the context of the Australian National Curriculum.…

Assessing kindergarten entry skills is complex, requiring attention to skill proficiency and interactive behaviors deemed critical for learning to occur. In our analysis of a state initiative, pilot data were collected on early literacy and numeracy and 2 aspects of important student interactions in the classroom (social and task behaviors) within…

This paper uses data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) to analyze the relationship between U.S. adults' self-reported health and proficiencies in literacy, numeracy, and technological problem solving. Ordinal logistic regression analyses showed that scores on all three scales were positively and…

The purpose of this study was to compare subgroups of students with various forms of learning difficulties (< 25th percentile) on cognitive and mathematics characteristics. Students with mathematics difficulty (MD, n = 105), reading difficulty (RD, n = 65), both (MDRD, n = 87), or neither (NoLD, n = 403) were evaluated on an array of cognitive…

Mathematics and numeracy are valuable cognitive learning areas that need to be addressed during the early childhood years. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of an intervention strategy comprised of creating opportunities, prompting, providing consequences, and prompt fading when teaching preschool children with…

Informal experiences in mathematics often include playful competitions among young children in counting numbers in as many as possible different languages. Can these enjoyable experiences result with excellence in the formal processes of education? This article discusses connections between mathematical achievements and natural languages within…