"Research Highlights" is an annual publication documenting developments in the Australian Council for Educational Research's (ACER's) research programs for the previous year. The 2003 edition highlights research on the following themes: (1) Australian students excel in international study; (2) Assessing the moral and ethical outcomes of…

This document, intended to assist Australia's national industry training advisory bodies, is a practical guide to developing English language, literacy, and numeracy inclusive national training packages. The guide is divided into three sections devoted to the following topics: (1) context (literacy in the workplace, literacy in training, literacy…

This resource guide is a collection of stories, articles, and worksheets on issues surrounding HIV/AIDS. It is intended to be informative and useful for adult language, literacy, and numeracy students. An HIV/AIDS introduction for teacher is followed by a section on further resources, which lists organizations which may provide guest speakers,…

This curriculum material is designed to be used effectively in any adult literacy and basic education program to develop numeracy skills in learners with an interest in cars. This flexible course consists of six units. It can be taught as a short course, units can be taught individually, and units can be taught in any sequence. Each unit is…

As the preschool and early years of schooling were becoming the focus of increasing attention, the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department commissioned a review of United Kingdom and international literature on the use of early intervention schemes for disadvantaged students. The resulting review presents evidence on the most appropriate…

This kit is designed to help trainers and assessors understand the importance of workplace communication in training packages. Section 1 explains what trainers and assessors need to know about communication skills, and how to use the kit. Section 2 provides an overview of training packages. It describes the endorsed parts of the package, which…

In 1998 the authors published research with NFER (National Foundation for Educational Research) "Family Numeracy Adds Up" showing how parents and children had gained from fourteen pilot family numeracy programmes. It showed strong evidence of the double benefits of work with families. Children have an early boost in their learning and…

How many adults with literacy problems actually have learning disabilities (LD)? Do most adults with severe literacy problems actually have a learning disability? What data exist to support the claims? How is LD being defined? Is the label overused? Is social/economic disadvantage misinterpreted as LD? What technologies and software exist to…

Investigates the dimensions underlying performance on the diagrams, tables, and maps subset of the Swedish Scholastic Aptitude Test. Analyzes data from two test versions by using a structural-equation modeling technique on 14,463 and 19,636 examinees respectively. Concludes that gender difference in performance is due, to a great extent, to the…

While the definition of learning disabilities has been the subject of controversy for decades, the current federal classification system identifies three specific areas of deficit: reading, written language, and mathematics and maintains the presumption that the disabilities are a result of a central nervous system dysfunction. In contrast to the…

The present study introduces and demonstrates a new methodology for item and test bias studies: "moderated differential item functioning (DIF)." This technique expands the DIF methodology to incorporate contextual and sociological variables as moderating or mediating effects of the DIF. Specifically, this paper explores differential…

This paper describes a limited longitudinal study of young children's early numeracy development within three testing cycles, at the mid-point and towards the end of their reception year (at five years-of-age) and again at the mid-point of Year 1 (at six years-of-age), located within the broader context of progress through to Key Stage 1 SAT…

"Everyday Mathematics," published by Wright Group/McGraw-Hill, is a core curriculum for students in kindergarten through grade 6 covering numeration and order, operations, functions and sequences, data and chance, algebra, geometry and spatial sense, measures and measurement, reference frames, and patterns. At each grade level, the…

A program to train literacy providers to help empower women was developed with funding from the United Nations Development Program. The training program is based on a manual titled "Educate to Empower." The manual, which is designed to train material developers to prepare gender-sensitive learning kits on various topics related to…

This bibliography of research in adult literacy and basic skills is selective, covering research undertaken in industrialized countries in the 20 years between 1972 and 1992. It concentrates primarily on research into basic skills undertaken in English-speaking countries, although it also has a European dimension. Entries are categorized under 18…