In 12 audio taped sessions, three kindergarten children engaged algebra in a teaching for understanding, thematic project. Toni, Asa, and Cornel had one-on-one lessons dealing with simple natural numbers, patterns, and relationships. Along the way, each child studied one of Toni Morrison's Who's got game books to explore repetition patterns in…

Many middle-school students struggle with decimals and fractions, even if they do not have a mathematical learning disability (MLD). In the present longitudinal study, we examined whether children with MLD have weaker rational number knowledge than children whose difficulty with rational numbers occurs in the absence of MLD. We found that children…

This paper presents (i) a purpose-built conceptual model for professional learning and (ii) a leadership framework designed to support a large-scale project involving diverse sites across the state of Queensland, Australia. The project had as its focus teacher-capacity building and ways to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for students at…

"Numeracy," so-called on analogy with literacy, is essential for making health and other social judgments in everyday life [Reyna, V. F., & Brainerd, C. J. (in press). The importance of mathematics in health and human judgment: Numeracy, risk communication, and medical decision making. "Learning and Individual Differences."]. Recent research on…

David Schwartz's classic book "How Much Is a Million?" can be the catalyst for sparking many interesting mathematical investigations. This article describes five episodes in which children in grades 2-5 all heard this familiar story read aloud to them. At each grade level, they were encouraged to think of their own way to explore the concept of…

Concern about poor mathematics achievement in U.S. schools has increased in recent years. In part, poor achievement may be attributed to a lack of attention to early instruction and missed opportunities to build on young children's early understanding of mathematics. This study examined the development and feasibility testing of a kindergarten…

A large scale observational study by educational psychologists of 141 UK primary classrooms used a partial interval time-sampling observational schedule to record the frequency and type of verbal behaviour of teachers and whether students were "on-task" (following the teacher's directions) or "off-task" (not following the…

This submission contains the Proceedings of the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group (CMESG), held at Laval University in Québec City, Québec. The CMESG is a group of mathematicians and mathematics educators who meet annually to discuss mathematics education issues at all levels of learning. The aims of the Study…

Kindergarten to third grade mathematics achievement scores from a prospective study of mathematical development (n = 306) were subjected to latent growth trajectory analyses. The four corresponding classes included children with mathematical learning disability (MLD, 6% of sample), and low (LA, 50%), typically (TA, 39%) and high (HA, 5%) achieving…

This teacher guide helps build a solid foundation in algebra for students in grades 3-5 in which students gain essential understanding of properties of numbers, variables, functions, equations, and formulas. Throughout the problem solving activities, students use computational skills and gain a deeper understanding of the number system. Students…

Analyzes the contribution of numeracy and literacy to earnings. Finds that numeracy has a highly significant effect on earnings, while literacy has a smaller, less significant effect. (Contains 3 tables, 1 figure, 24 references.) (PKP)

A recent survey comparing numeracy levels in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Sweden, Japan, Australia, and Denmark found that 22% of UK respondents could answer 5 or fewer of 12 questions. Another British study found that 25% of 1,1714 adults had very low numeracy skills. (SK)

Studied accuracy and use of sequence number string in hearing 3- to 5-year-olds and in deaf 4- to 6-year-olds using the Belgian French Sign Language. Found that deaf children exhibited age-related lags in knowledge of the number sequence, and made different errors from those of hearing children, reflecting the rule-bound nature of sign language.…

Two experiments explored effects of intervention and test conditions on preschoolers' use of counting to compare two sets. At mean age of 4 years 4 months, children in two intervention groups were more likely to use counting to compare sets than those in control group. Use of counting to compare sets was closely related to counting performance.…

Outlines three approaches to numeracy instruction: (1) traditional positivism, the transfer of knowledge from teacher to student; (2) constructivism, in which learning is contextual and culturally meaningful; and (3) critical constructivism, which enables students to reflect on learning and its social context. (SK)