Synthesizes the literature on mathematics learning and provides research-based recommendations, advice, and guidance and develops an elaborated view of mathematical literacy termed 'mathematical proficiency' in the study report. The study demonstrated how research could be synthesized so that evidence from research might be used more productively…

Although children take over a year to learn the meanings of the first three number words, they eventually master the logic of counting and the meanings of all the words in their count list. Here, we ask whether children's knowledge applies to number words beyond those they have mastered: Does a child who can only count to 20 infer that number…

Both 'strategic' and 'distributed' forms of leadership are considered promising responses to the demands placed on school systems by large-scale reform initiatives. Using observation, interview and survey data collected as part of a larger evaluation of England's National Literacy and Numeracy Strategies, this study inquired about sources of…

The purpose of the present study was to improve a multivariate multilevel model in the research literature which estimates the consistency in the rates of growth between mathematics and science achievement among students and schools. We introduced a new multivariate multilevel model via a latent variable approach. Data from the Longitudinal Study…

The UK Government's Key Stage 3 Strategy (KS3S) aims to transform teachers' approaches, including pedagogy, and pupils' expectations in England. It places new demands on specialist subject teachers to undertake cross-curricular work in the fields of literacy and numeracy development. However, there are insufficient research data concerning trainee…

This article illustrates the misconceptions that students have when using the equals sign and describes a lesson used to give students the foundation for an accurate conception of equivalency.

The second in a series of five, module 2 provides everything one will need to run sharply focused, practical staff development training sessions for adult and Post-16 literacy, language and numeracy teachers. Each module addresses aspects of teaching and learning commonly identified as areas in need of improvement and can be used individually or…

This study examines the mental computation strategies used by pupils at the end of primary school. In 1998 a new strategy for teaching mathematics was introduced into British schools (the National Numeracy Strategy) that specifically focused on mental calculation. The first part of the study took place in 1999, one year after the implementation of…

Large-scale assessments of student achievement provide a window into the broadly defined concepts of literacy and generate information about levels and types of student achievement in relation to some of the correlates of learning, such as student background, attitudes, and perceptions, and perhaps school and home characteristics. This paper…

In this article, the author discusses the importance of early childhood play. Play is simply shorthand for everyone's capacity for curiosity, imagination, and fantasy--everyone's creative dispositions. What makes play unique is that it enables everyone to create new learning experiences. To illustrate, an infant who drops a rattle from the crib,…

A holiday quilt project in a kindergarten classroom becomes a focus for exploring patterns, shapes, measurement, spatial relationships, and number sense. Cooperative group work, problem solving, and communication of mathematical ideas enhance the completion of the project. (Contains 5 figures.)

This article considers steps towards making a numeracy-across-the-curriculum policy. Numeracy means more than the kind of everyday arithmetic a person (a competent independent adult) needs to handle whole number (and simple decimal) calculations; e.g., money, time, and simple measurement. Importantly, aspects of numeracy arise in any everyday task…

Number sense development was tracked from the beginning of kindergarten through the middle of first grade, over six time points. Children (n=277) were then assessed on general math achievement at the end of first grade. Number sense performance in kindergarten, as well as number sense growth, accounted for 66 percent of the variance in first-grade…

The focus on quantitative literacy has been increasingly outside the realm of mathematics. The social sciences are well suited to including quantitative elements throughout the curriculum but doing so can mean challenges in preparation and presentation of material for instructors and increased anxiety for students. This paper describes tools and…

An important social concern in mathematics education is that the educational attainment of pupils may be influenced by teachers' competence in the curricular area they are teaching. This paper provides some insight into the relationship between student primary teachers' mathematics subject knowledge and their reported confidence to teach that…