Recent public discussions have suggested that the under-representation of women in science and mathematics careers can be traced back to intrinsic differences in aptitude. However, true gender differences are difficult to assess because sociocultural influences enter at an early point in childhood. If these claims of intrinsic differences are…

The rapid changes in our society have amplified the need for adult learning opportunities. However, adults often make decisions not to persist in formal learning experiences in a smooth, linear fashion. The decision to pause or terminate formal learning is a complex behavioral decision that includes knowledge, the cognitive process, personal…

In 2009, The Common Core Standards shifted the English language arts focus from narrative to expository text, arguing that most texts read in college and workforce training programs are informational. By the time students are in twelfth grade, they are expected to read informational text 70% of the time. This can be challenging for English…

While many U.S. adult education programs and policies (including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)) focus on low literacy skill as a barrier to employment, this study recognizes the role of increasing numeracy skill as critical in reducing the probability of unemployment. This study used a series of regression analyses to examine…

Children's own spontaneous mathematical activities are crucial for their mathematical development. Mathematical thinking and learning does not only occur in explicitly mathematical situations, such as the classroom. Those children with higher tendencies to recognize and use mathematical aspects of their everyday surroundings, both within the…

One of the biggest challenges for primary school children is moving beyond the use of counting in calculation. The purpose of this study was to investigate how Zambian Grade 1 to Grade 4 children at primary school see a group of 10 as an effective pattern and structure with the given concrete material. The study consisted of three phases…

Literacy interventions are a common educational response for supporting students with literacy difficulties. Australian schools historically offered such programs,, though recent studies were not found in the research literature. This paper reports on school-level and literacy intervention data for a randomly selected sample of 366 schools, from…

Adult basic education (ABE) policies aim to help adults improve their literacy, numeracy and information and communications technology skills, as well as their qualifications, often in pursuit of economic gains such as better employment and earnings. The large-scale improvement of skills and qualifications has been referred to as a wicked policy…

There is contrary research around whether collaboration at work fosters individual learning and skill development. This study's purpose was to examine the relationship between social characteristics of jobs on adults' cognitive skills as measured by the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). For select industry…

This study aims to design mathematical literacy instruments that have evidence of content and construct validity and are reliable for use as an assessment for learning. The research involved eight experts as instrument validators and 273 eighth-grade students of junior high school in Yogyakarta Province. The results showed that the ten…

This paper focuses on a group of mothers of immigrant origin as they engage in explorations and conversations about mathematics. We examine how bringing in tasks that draw on their children's school mathematics, and on the participants' knowledge and experiences, can inform us about their understanding of mathematics and provide opportunities to…

With rising importance of collaborative problem-solving skills (CLPS) for the new information age, the PISA 2015 assessed students' CLPS skills on a large scale. This new attempt to measure CLPS raises an issue of validity. The purpose of this research is to examine evidence for convergent validity of CLPS through investigating the relationships…

Australian children from regional, rural and remote (RRR) areas exhibit lower educational outcomes than their peers in metropolitan areas. The mechanisms driving the comparatively poorer educational outcomes of children in RRR areas, however, are not well understood. This paper proposes and tests two sets of factors that may be responsible for…

Leading school mathematics is a complex task and the responsibilities and activities involved are not always clearly defined. School mathematics leaders (SML) in Australian schools are often expected to lead improvement in mathematics teaching and learning. Previous research typically focuses on the qualities of effective leaders rather than the…

This observation study documents the amount and quality of mathematics instruction provided to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in kindergarten through second grade in self-contained special education settings. We observed six special education teachers and their students (N = 12) during a total of 967 min allotted to…