Reanalyzes data obtained in 1987 on mental calculation strategies used by 11-year-olds in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Classifies mental strategies developed in the past decade in international research. Compares frequency and effectiveness of the strategies used by pupils of different levels of attainment. Discusses basic arithmetic…

This study examined the matching and sequencing of quantities, numerals, and arbitrary forms by two individuals with mental retardation. Results showed that sequence training did not readily lead to new matching performances, unlike prior research with college students. Instead, training in matching to sample yielded emergent sequence production…

Magnitude comparison, calculation verification, and short-term memory span experiments were conducted as a means of investigating number processing in 17 deaf college students with academic weaknesses. Deaf students' level of accuracy did not differ from that shown by their hearing peers; however, mean response times of deaf students were greater…

Compares two groups of preschool children to assess the effect of children's counting ability on their ability to reason about numbers. Describes the research design and the set of expected possible outcomes. Reports results in light of these predictions, concluding that counting ability is not necessary for number-relevant operations. (DSK)

Discusses key areas in science that require students to have a well-developed sense of numeracy for full understanding. Suggests that some of the difficulties students have with numeracy arise from not distinguishing between the teaching of facts and skills and teaching through conceptual understanding. Makes some recommendations for correcting…

Analyzed the diagnostic teaching abilities in the domains of literacy and numeracy of second-year teachers in a Dutch primary school. Assessed student's literacy development using standardized tests, and compared results of these tests with teachers' criterion-referenced judgment of their pupils' literacy development. Found teachers' judgments to…

This article proposes a two-factor theory of mathematics disabilities based on the premise that weak cognitive representations lead to poorer retrieval of information from long term memory. Comparison of children with math disabilities alone (MD) and those with both math and reading disabilities (MD/RD) suggests that weak phonological processing…

Evaluated the literacy and numeracy skills tests currently required for entry into teaching in England. Interviews with students, teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders indicated that teachers and student teachers were frustrated and stressed by the requirement. Institutions varied in their approaches to testing. Testing imposed a huge…

All students need some level of mathematics understanding for tertiary academic study (academic numeracy) and yet many preparatory and foundation programs for international students either include mathematics courses based on a school curriculum, or no mathematics at all. For the past fifteen years the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) has…

This paper reports the use of several quantitative analytic methods, including Rasch analysis, to re-examine teacher responses to questionnaire items probing opinions related to the compulsory numeracy tests conducted in Years 3, 5, and 7 in Queensland, Australia. Nisbet and Grimbeek (2004) previously reported an interpretable and statistically…

The study set out to investigate the impact of the official endorsement of 'interactive whole class teaching' on the interaction and discourse styles of primary teachers while teaching the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies. In both strategies, interactive whole class teaching is seen as an 'active teaching' model promoting high quality…

UK national initiatives in education, such as the National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, have been implemented to improve learning and raise standards. These initiatives place considerable significance on whole class interactive teaching, and political rhetoric makes great play of this pedagogic strategy. Teachers have been encouraged to use…

Number sense, an integral part of the curriculum in primary school mathematics, has always been thought of as playing a major role in pupils' understanding and use of numbers in calculation. Research in number sense has been carried out in the West, as well as in Malaysia. That a study of such a nature be done to reflect on the abilities of…

This article reports a small-scale study into the functions of the plenary session. It offers information about the ways that plenary sessions are being understood and implemented in one school, and offers an example of the usefulness of small-scale, school-based projects for enhancing reflectiveness and sharing perspectives among a staff group.…

This investigation describes the way in which a case study participant (aged 7) represented, posed and solved problems in a technology game-based environment. The out-of-school problem-solving context placed numeracy demands on the participant that were more complex and sophisticated than the type of mathematics experiences he encountered in…