This book is intended for school principals at every level to help develop a plan for raising mathematics achievement in their schools. Chapter 1 explores the current state of mathematics achievement in the United States and suggests some of the reasons why students as a whole do not compare more favorably with their international counterparts.…

As times change, so has the role of algebra in the educational program. The Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) offers secondary students an opportunity to learn algebra in a college preparatory sequence that combines basic skills, problem solving, and conceptual understanding while integrating algebra into a problem-based program. Designed for…

Discusses a numeracy course, focused on project work around HIV/AIDS, that has been constructed for first-year university students in South Africa. (Author/VWL)

Presents a word problem designed to encourage students to create systematic methods for counting and develop probability concepts. Involves sharing eight cookies between three people. (KHR)

Enumeration and numerical reasoning levels of 19 children with specific language impairment (SLI) were compared to children matched for age and children matched for grammatical ability (GM). Children with SLI performed better than the GM group on reproduction of sets, numerosity of sets, an addition/subtraction condition, and transformation…

Illustrates methods of teaching place value, multiplication, division, and metrics to adult basic education students. (SK)

Responses from 327 of 340 English secondary students identified the following 2 factors associated with preference for using/not using calculators: (1) degree of enjoyment of number work and confidence in calculation; and (2) degree of skepticism about the legitimacy of calculators or lack of confidence in using them. Primary schools had great…

Discusses features of the Algebra Project, whose goals include a minimum standard of mathematical literacy for minority students and strong community involvement. (MKR)

A social semiotic approach to math is necessary because of the increasing significance of abstract tools in the workplace. A case study from the coal mining industry illustrates the need to recognize mathematics as a socially constructed system and to contextualize math instruction. (SK)

A workplace literacy program provided instruction in prose, document, and quantitative (PDQ) dimensions of literacy to 50 female high school dropouts. Only 20% completed the program; they made meaningful gains in the quantitative and document dimensions, but not prose. (SK)

Considers the mathematical needs of young employees. Interviewed both employees and their employers from a wide range of industry, commerce, and the public sector, and ascertained mathematics that is perceived by employers as being needed as well as that actually used by employees. Considers use made of commercial numeracy tests and makes…

Examined role of spontaneous gesture in 2- to 4-year-olds' counting and assessment of counting accuracy. Found that correspondence of children's speech and gesture varied systematically across age. Children adhered to one-to-one correspondence principle in gesture prior to speech. Counting accuracy related to correspondence of speech and gesture,…

Two experiments examined preschoolers' performance on test relying on the uniqueness principle for using evidence from a miscount in inferring a counterfactual cardinal number, with subtests probing associated number-skills. All the 5-year-olds and half the preschoolers passed the test. Results suggest that a crucial preschool step is to start…

This article aims to provide both an account and an assessment of the most significant policies adopted by New Labour on primary schooling since its victory in the election of 1997. A secondary intention is to determine what these policies reveal about New Labour and its political project. A key policy objective in New Labour's two terms of office…

From an early age young children actively engage informally in acquiring fundamental concepts and process skills that form a basis for mathematical understanding. Quite logically, questions will arise during planning when young children first encounter a more formal learning environment: what strategy should one use to develop mathematical …