Since 1991, the U.S. has had a national research and development (R&D) center focused on programs that help adults to improve their language, literacy, and numeracy skills; to acquire a General Educational Development (GED) or other high school certification; and to transition into postsecondary education or training. For the first five years,…

In this paper we examine the discourses of Primary school numeracy coordinators responsible for auditing, monitoring and supporting their colleagues in relation to the introduction and embedding of the National Numeracy Strategy (NNS) in the UK. Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) focuses our analysis on the contradictory coupling of…

In British Columbia, Canada, two population-based databases have been linked at the level of the individual child: the "Early Development Instrument", a Kindergarten school readiness measure; and the "Foundation Skills Assessment", a Grade Four academic assessment. Utilising these linked data, we explored the early school…

Studies such as the Effective Teachers of Numeracy Study (Askew, Brown, Rhodes, Johnson, & Wiliam (1997) have contributed much to our understanding of what constitutes effective teaching of numeracy. This paper aims to build on these findings and to contribute a model that could be used to understand teachers' numeracy practices and the…

This booklet is a designed to introduce adult basic education/literacy instructors to a spiral sequencing approach that may be used to teach whole number skills. The booklet begins with a brief discussion of integration of numeracy into literacy instruction. Discussed next are the benefits of using a spiral sequence for numeracy facilitation and…

This numeracy package, which is intended for use by facilitators in group or tutoring situations, consists of materials designed to help adult literacy students understand number systems, appreciate the different roles that numbers play in daily life, and gain the confidence needed to work with numbers in everyday situations. Part 1, which…

A study explored what numerical skills older adults most commonly used in everyday life and pointed at which new numerical skills older people need to acquire. it also ascertained whether any areas were causing difficulties and explored coping strategies. An analysis of approaches to defining numerical skills in everyday life and to assessing…

The current state of adult numeracy research and practice was examined. Data were collected from available literature and test data about adult numeracy instruction, as well as from telephone interviews with directors and teachers in 30 randomly selected adult education programs in three states. Among the key findings of the study were the…

This document, which is designed to assist workplace education practitioners in business, education, and labor partnerships funded through the Massachusetts Department of Education's Workplace Literacy Program, includes materials about and/or for use in developing workers' mathematics skills. The first section, which examines the current state of…

For this edition of "A Survey of Current Australian Strategies in Numeracy", officers from each of the State and Territory education departments, as well as their Catholic Education Office counterparts provided the information about the strategies in place during 2001 within their jurisdiction. These strategies, all aimed at improving…

This report summarizes key findings from the 2003 Massachusetts State Assessment of Adult Literacy (SAAL). Administered in Massachusetts in 2003 and early 2004, the assessment measures the prose, document, and quantitative literacy of Massachusetts's adults. The Massachusetts SAAL was conducted in conjunction with the National Assessment of Adult…

This book is designed to help adults gain the range of math skills they need to succeed in life and work and on standardized tests including the GED. It is expected to help students overcome math anxiety, discover math as interesting and purposeful, and develop good number sense. Lessons are organized around four strands: (1) skill lessons…

This book offers ideas to enrich instruction and help teachers explore the intrinsic beauty of math. Through dozens of examples from arithmetic, algebra, geometry, and probability, the symmetries, patterns, processes, paradoxes, and surprises that have facilitated generations of great thinkers are revealed. Activities include: (1) The Beauty in…

This chapter describes a study adopting the findings from an investigation of the cognitive processing and knowledge requirements of individuals taking the Graduate Record Examination Quantitative (GRE-Q) Test. The study investigates subgroup differences such as major field of study, gender, and racial-ethnic backgrounds of students taking the…

This report has two objectives: first, to explore how the demographic and educational characteristics of low-performing students compare to other students within the United States; second, to analyze if the United States differs from the other PISA countries in terms of the characteristics of its low-performing students. The Program for…