Many people go for training to upgrade their skills which is hoped to pave the way for better pay. But what are the kinds of skills that really affect wages? Employers have emphasized the value of generic skills such as interpersonal and communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. Does possession of these skills translate to at least the…

This article describes the essential instructional elements necessary for delivering explicit mathematics instruction to students with mathematics difficulties. Mathematics intervention research indicates that explicit instruction is one of the most effective instructional approaches for teaching students with or at risk for math difficulties.…

The Aboriginal "How are we Doing?" report provides information about Aboriginal students (including adults) performance in Public school. Readers should notice that there are changes to historical and trend data. Once a student has self-identified as being of Aboriginal ancestry, the student is included in all report outcomes for…

In this paper we review and compare language policy in relation to adult numeracy education in Wales and New Zealand with respect to the Maori and Welsh languages in the latest stage of our international comparative study of adult numeracy education. While much has been written about the relationship between language and literacy, the relationship…

This paper reports on one phase of a long-term project investigating mathematical content knowledge of pre-service teachers. A cohort of second year PSTs conducted a diagnostic assessment and a series of associated tutoring sessions with a primary aged child. The focus here is on the PSTs' ability to make appropriate task choices following the…

In this important book for pre- and in-service teachers, early math experts Douglas Clements and Julie Sarama show how "learning trajectories" help diagnose a child's level of mathematical understanding and provide guidance for teaching. By focusing on the inherent delight and curiosity behind young children's mathematical reasoning,…

Concerns about a decline in literacy and numeracy standards in New Zealand are longstanding. Such concerns have again come to the fore with the introduction of the Education (National Standards) Amendment Act 2008. In this paper we track the debates leading up to the new legislation, focusing on the political struggles and the way in which games…

It is assumed that basic numerical competencies are important building blocks for more complex arithmetic skills. The current study aimed at evaluating this interrelation in a longitudinal approach. It was investigated whether first graders' performance in basic numerical tasks in general as well as specific processes involved (e.g., place-value…

Children often talk themselves through their activities. They produce private speech (PS), which is internalized to form inner speech (silent verbal thought). Twenty-five 8-10-year-olds completed four tasks in a laboratory context (Tower of London, digit span, and two measures of spatial IQ). PS production was recorded. Eleven months later, the…

The purpose of this study was to examine whether early literacy skills uniquely predict early numeracy skills development. During the first year of the study, 69 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers were assessed on the Preschool Early Numeracy Skills (PENS) test and the Test of Preschool Early Literacy Skills (TOPEL). Participants were assessed again a…

We used both student interviews and diagnostic testing to reveal students' misconceptions about number representations in computing systems. This article reveals that students who have passed an undergraduate level computer organization course still possess surprising misconceptions about positional notations, two's complement representation, and…

Research Findings: This study examined concurrent associations between family sociodemographic risk, self-regulation, and early literacy and mathematics in young children from Azores, Portugal (N = 186). Family sociodemographic risk was indexed by low maternal education, low family income, and low occupational status. Behavioral aspects of…

The project, "Oxford Improving Numeracy and Literacy Programme," was delivered by Oxford University Department of Education. This evaluation tested two different initiatives with Year 2 children: "Mathematics and Reasoning" and "Literacy and Morphemes." The "Mathematics and Reasoning" programme aimed to…

This article presents a case study of a primary school that engaged with the Innovative Designs for Enhancing Achievement in Schools (IDEAS) Project, and moved to the sustaining phase over a period of three years. It reports how the students, who were 98 percent English as a second language, improved their reading and numeracy during this time and…

Eight six-year old German children with development disabilities regarding such number competencies as have been demonstrated to be among the most relevant precursor skills for the acquisition of elementary mathematics received intensive training with the program "Mengen, zählen, Zahlen" ["quantities, counting, numbers"] (MZZ,…