Numeracy Practices Research Articles

A critical turn in numeracy education and practice

Research into the nature of numeracy and numeracy practice has typically been focused on the capabilities required to participate effectively within personal, civic, and work life. In this article, we document the development of numeracy theory and practice from a functional perspective through to a view that includes evaluative and decision-making capabilities now required for informed and responsible citizenship—a critical turn. We map this development through an audit of policy and curriculum documents in addition to published research, making connections to the ever-changing mathematical demands of society. These include new demands that require critical approaches to the deployment of numeracy capabilities. We argue that this turn to the critical is central to how citizens support their societies' responses to recent and intensifying disruptive phenomena such as COVID-19 and for ensuring equity, inclusiveness, and social justice remain a high priority in a rapidly changing world.

Numeracy Practices in the Lived Spaces by Middle School Students: Adriano’s Map

Resumo O artigo é fruto de uma investigação que objetivou compreender narrativas de 15 estudantes dos Anos Finais do Ensino Fundamental sobre seus territórios vividos no bairro Santa Helena, no município de Governador Valadares, Minas Gerais, quando eles/elas mobilizam práticas de numeramento nessas narrativas. Assume as contribuições teóricas de estudos sobre práticas de numeramento, reconhecendo que elas se inserem nas tessituras das práticas de letramento, em diálogo com Henri Lefebvre sobre a produção do espaço e sua tríade analítica – espaço concebido, vivido e percebido. O material empírico foi produzido durante uma oficina na qual os/as estudantes foram convidados/as a traçar, em um mapa, o itinerário que realizam de casa até a escola. Para isso, eles/as utilizaram os recursos disponibilizados pela plataforma on-line Google My Maps. Durante a oficina, identificou-se o evento O mapa do Adriano, selecionado para análise e discussão, em que o estudante, mediado pela tela de um computador, apropria-se da linguagem tecnológica própria da plataforma My Maps, acolhendo e tensionando o espaço concebido pelos criadores da plataforma com os espaços vividos/percebidos por ele no bairro. Desse modo, o estudante produz significados próprios para a produção e leitura de mapas na tela de um computador, tornando-se protagonista das práticas vividas e narradas por ele. Destaca-se que o uso da plataforma My Maps se mostra uma ferramenta potente para a produção de cartografias, para estudos que operam com os conceitos de território e práticas de numeramento e, de modo geral, para o campo da Educação Matemática.

TRAINING AND MENTORING OF LITERACY AND NUMERACY ACTIVITIES THROUGH THE USE OF ICT-BASED BULLETIN INTEGRATED CHARACTER EDUCATION (BICE) MEDIA IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 9 MAMBORO

SDN 9 Mamboro is one of the schools in Palu City that has launched a literacy and numeracy program. Observations conducted by the service team showed that the literacy and numeracy practices at this school were not optimal. The implementation is still at the habituation stage, directing students to read for 15 minutes at the beginning of the lesson and the implementation is not routine. The book collection and the number of students visiting the library were also lacking, the reading corner was inadequate, the learning methods used were conventional and most teachers did not have the necessary skills to create ICT-based learning media. Based on these observations, the service team and the principal agreed to provide training and assistance in literacy and numeracy activities through the use of bulletin integrated character education (BICE) media. The expected goal of this activity is to improve students' literacy and numeracy skills. The average pretest score of literacy and numeracy skills was 38.29 and increased to 84.92 during the posttest.

Early numeracy opportunities through number stories with marginalised families

We explore the potential of merging numeracy and literacy, through using number stories to stimulate mathematical engagement with young, marginalized learners in their communities. Our data emerges from the Family Maths Storytime Programme (FMSP) run in partnership with teachers in two South African schools. The FMSP conducted sessions with caregivers of pre-Grade 1 learners that focused on supporting mathematical talk in the home centred around four number storybooks with linked activities and games. Drawing on Bourdieu’s notion of habitus and other socio-cultural theories emphasising opportunities for talk and reasoning for learning we explore: Did the FMSP enable the integration of home and school numeracy and literacy practices? If so, what evidence is there of such integrated practices? What is the nature of the described practices? Our analysis focuses on 20 caregiver interviews following their participation in the FMSP that was initially run after school in two English medium pre-Grade 1 classrooms. NVivo coding highlighted key themes across interviews. The findings show how modelling engagement with merged literacy and numeracy practices in the programme enabled changing practices, dispositions, and forms of capital in relation to engaging with these in the home. We highlight how supporting home-based and story inspired engagement with marginalised learners supports equity goals in contexts where learners from indigenous backgrounds often begin and remain mathematically behind grade expectations in school.

To what extent do home numeracy practices and parental number talk relate to children's math skills? A pre-registered study in 5-year-old children

A growing number of studies suggest a relation between young children's math skills and their home numeracy environment (HNE), typically assessed through home numeracy practices and parental number talk. However, studies are characterized by heterogeneity in methods, analytic strategies, and results. Here we tested prevalent models of the HNE via a pre-registered study to reduce analytic flexibility and distinguish between confirmatory and exploratory findings. A wide range of mathematical skills was measured in 128 5-year-old children, while their HNE was assessed via a parental questionnaire evaluating the frequency of home numeracy practices and a direct measure of parental number talk during a free-play session in the lab. Contrary to our hypotheses, we did not find any predicted relation between children's mathematical skills and parental number talk or frequency of informal practices at home. However, as predicted, we confirmed a relation between formal advanced numeracy practices and symbolic mathematical skills.

The premium for skilled labor in the Roman world

Romans rewarded skill in material terms, and wage data reflects this. This study develops a method for understanding the return on skilling in the Roman period, starting from internal pay scales observed in Egyptian documents. These data reveal a modal premium of 100 and mean of 74. Roman-period returns on training compare favorably with evidence from outside Egypt, especially detailed pay scales in Diocletian's Price Edict, thus suggesting a broader Empire-wide premium. This Roman skill premium is then compared with a selection of data from other premodern periods, which show that the relative price of skill in ancient Rome was not historically atypical, despite the particularly high levels of enslavement and urbanization characteristic of the Roman economy. The return on investments in training during the Empire can be seen to reflect both numeracy practices and developing market conditions for skill.

How does the modern home environment impact children's mathematics knowledge? Evidence from Canadian elementary children's digital home numeracy practice (DHNP)

AbstractBackgroundA strong knowledge of mathematics, beginning at the elementary level, is critical for participation in today's complex world. The home may be one way to facilitate individualized mathematics instruction, given that children spend more time at home than in an academic institution. Therefore, researchers are interested to see whether the home numeracy environment (HNE) can provide a solid foundation for children's mathematics understanding. Further, children's digital mathematics exploration at home is increasingly common (e.g., using math apps).ObjectivesThe present study evaluates the digital home numeracy practice (DHNP) model and explores its effect on children's mathematics knowledge across five domains (numeration, number operation, pattern recognition, spatial sense, and applied problem‐solving).MethodsTo conduct this study, 117 Canadian parents and their children from Grade 1 through 5 completed a DHNP survey and a range of in‐person mathematics measures.Results and ConclusionsThe results identified significant relations between parents and children's implicit mathematics factors (e.g., math anxiety, motivation). Children's mathematics anxiety and parents' academic estimations and expectations for their children positively predicted children's mathematics knowledge. In terms of DHNP components, parental involvement in DHNP predicted children's numeration and applied problem‐solving knowledge.ImplicationsTaken together, the results detail the contribution of parental and child factors to children's mathematics knowledge and suggest that parents adjust their role in DHNP according to their children's mathematics ability.

Cross-lagged relationship between home numeracy practices and early mathematical skills among Chinese young children.

The present study examined the cross-lagged relationship between home numeracy practices (e.g., formal teaching, number games, and number application) and early mathematical skills (basic number processing, and arithmetic skills) among Chinese young children. A total of 155 children (82 boys; mean age = 67.49 months, SD = 3.58 months) were assessed with basic number processing and arithmetic skills at three timepoints during the kindergarten year, and their parents reported the frequency of parent-child numeracy activities. Main results from random-intercept cross-lagged panel models showed that, at the within-family level, earlier basic teaching activities uniquely predicted subsequent basic number processing, while both advanced teaching activities and number game activities at earlier timepoints predicted the following arithmetic skills. These results indicated a unidirectional effect from home numeracy practices on early mathematical skills during the early years.

College Students’ Numeracy Events in Discussing Public Issues

An important consideration in the design and development of numeracy-focused coursework is ensuring that one meets students where they are with respect to both their mathematics background and their existing numeracy practices in relation to public issues. The latter consideration is especially important, given that students already think about such issues in their daily lives, long before we use them as a means for motivating quantitative exploration in the classroom. In this article, I report on a qualitative study of eight college students’ numeracy events—that is, events mediated in some way by quantification–when reasoning in focus groups with three distinct media artifacts concerning public issues. Core findings from the work are that (1) students in the study leveraged their identities and background knowledge to think about and discuss public issues (which corroborates existing research), and (2) numeracy events, when they did occur, primarily consisted of one-time references to or acknowledgements of quantitative information in the article, rather than active use or manipulation of such information. I end by discussing implications of these findings as well as future avenues for research.

Measuring Digital Home Numeracy Practice: A Scale Development and Validation Study

ABSTRACT There is little empirical data on the extent of home numeracy practice using technology, though previous research shows that home numeracy activities are linked with children’s mathematics abilities. This study describes the process of constructing an inventory of digital home numeracy practice (DHNP-i). Parents (n = 126) of elementary children participated in the study. Psychometric assessments (such as internal consistency of items, composite reliability, convergent validity) were used to validate the scale, which measures the frequency of DHNP, parents’ role in common DHNP (e.g., mobile math games/apps), how math apps are selected, math app types, supports provided by math apps, and parental perceptions of math app effectiveness. The results suggest that the DHNP measurement model (consisting of 19 items and five constructs) underlying the scale is a reliable and valid tool to assess home numeracy practice using technology. The newly developed scale will ultimately help researchers explore the impact of DHNP on young children’s mathematics development.

Latino kindergarteners' math growth, approaches to learning, and home numeracy practices

There is limited research on the relation between approaches to learning (ATL) and Latino kindergarteners' math development, and mixed results regarding the role of Latino home numeracy practices. This study examined the associations among Latino kindergarteners' ATL, home numeracy practices, and growth in math skills. Participants were 151 low-income Latino parents and their children (M age = 67 months; 52% female). In early fall (beginning of kindergarten), parents completed a home numeracy survey and children's ATL were assessed. At three time points during the kindergarten year (early and late fall, and spring), children's math skills were assessed. Positive linear growth in Latino kindergarteners' math skills was observed. Latino kindergarteners' ATL positively related to variation in math skills, but not growth. Home numeracy practices did not relate to math skills. Findings highlight the unique role that ATL might play as an ecocultural asset that supports Latino kindergarteners' math development.

Nurturing the Mathematical Brain: Home Numeracy Practices Are Associated With Children’s Neural Responses to Arabic Numerals

Disparities in home numeracy environments contribute to variations in children’s mathematical skills. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the relation between home numeracy experiences and mathematical learning are unknown. Here, parents of 66 eight-year-olds completed a questionnaire assessing the frequency of home numeracy practices. Neural adaptation to the repetition of Arabic numerals and words was measured in children using functional MRI (n = 50) to assess how sensitive the brain is to the presentation of numerical and nonnumerical information. Disparities in home numeracy practices were related to differences in digit (but not word) processing in a region of the left intraparietal sulcus (IPS) that was also related to children’s arithmetic fluency. Furthermore, digit-related processing in the IPS influenced the relation between home numeracy practices and arithmetic fluency. Results were consistent with a model hypothesizing that home numeracy practices may affect children’s mathematical skills by modulating the IPS response to symbolic numerical information.

The relation between home numeracy practices and a variety of math skills in elementary school children.

A growing number of studies suggest that the frequency of numeracy experiences that parents provide at home may relate to children's mathematical development. However, the relation between home numeracy practices and children's numerical skills is complex and might depend upon both the type and difficulty of activities, as well as the type of math skills. Studies have also argued that this relation may be driven by factors that are not systematically controlled for in the literature, including socio-economic status (SES), parental math skills and children's IQ. Finally, as most prior studies have focused on preschoolers, it remains unclear to what extent there remains a relation between the home numeracy environment and math skills when children are in elementary school. In the present study, we tested an extensive range of math skills in 66 8-year-olds, including non-symbolic quantity processing, symbolic number understanding, transcoding, counting, and mental arithmetic. We also asked parents to complete a questionnaire about their SES, academic expectations, academic attitudes, and the numeracy practices that they provide at home. Finally, we measured their arithmetic fluency as a proxy for parental math skills. Over and above differences in socio-economic status, parental arithmetic fluency, child's IQ, and time spent with the child, we found a positive relation between the frequency of formal numeracy practices that were at or above grade level and two separate measures of mental arithmetic. We further found that the frequency of these advanced formal numeracy practices was related to parents' academic expectations. Therefore, our study shows that home numeracy experiences predict arithmetic skills in elementary school children, but only when those activities are formal and sufficiently challenging for children.

Using an Online Numeracy Practice Test to Support Education Students for the Numeracy Component of the LANTITE

In Australia, teacher education students must pass the Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education (LANTITE) to meet accreditation requirements. Although this has been mandated since 2016, there are currently few resources available for students to use in preparation for the test. To help students prepare for the numeracy component of the LANTITE, we developed an online Numeracy Practice Test (NPT) through the institution’s learning management system. This study assessed the learning analytics from the NPT between students who subsequently passed the numeracy component of the LANTITE with those that failed. Our results show that students who passed performed significantly better in the NPT, had fewer attempts, spent less time on the NPT, and accessed it closer to the date of the LANTITE, which demonstrate students’ ability to self-assess the level of support required.

Characteristics Related to Parent-Child Literacy and Numeracy Practices in Preschool

Despite evidence suggesting that home literacy and numeracy environments are related to children’s school readiness skills, little research has examined the child and family characteristics that relate to the home literacy and numeracy environments within the same sample. These factors are important to investigate in order to determine what may foster or prevent parent-child engagement. The primary purpose of this study was to examine the shared and unique parent-reported child and parent variables that are related to the frequency of parent-child literacy and numeracy practices. The 199 preschoolers included in the study ranged in age from 3.00 to 5.17°years (M = 4.16, SD = 0.57). Parents reported on child and family characteristics. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted (one each for home literacy and numeracy environments). Results indicated that parent education and children’s age were positively related to the frequency of both literacy and numeracy practices. However, parents’ beliefs of the importance of numeracy were positively associated with the frequency of parent-reported numeracy practices, whereas beliefs of the importance of literacy were not related to the frequency of literacy practices. In line with other research, parents reported finding literacy development to be more important than numeracy development and engaging in parent-child literacy practices more frequently than numeracy practices. Understanding factors that are related to the home literacy and numeracy environments may be an important step in identifying how to best encourage parents to engage their children in these practices at home.

Enhancing children’s numerical skills through a play-based intervention at kindergarten and at home: a quasi-experimental study

Early number skills are critical predictors of academic achievement, which is why focusing on their instruction from the very beginning of education is recommended. Young children’s number knowledge is also strongly influenced by home numeracy practices. This 12-week quasi-experimental study tested whether early number skills could be enhanced by a play-based intervention implemented at kindergarten (aged 4–6 years) by the teachers and whether providing numerical games to families delivered added value. A total of 569 children from 46 kindergarten classes were assigned either to the first treatment condition in which games were played only at kindergarten, or to the second treatment condition in which games were played at kindergarten and at home, or to the business-as-usual control condition. Measures of numerical ability were collected at pretest and posttest and analyzed through item response theory and multilevel modeling. Results indicated that playing the games at kindergarten allowed children with average and above-average initial performance to make more progress than children in the control group, while providing the games at home allowed low achievers from various backgrounds to progress more than in the other conditions. Implications for early mathematics instruction and for home-based intervention studies are discussed.

The role of whānau (New Zealand Māori families) for Māori children’s early learning.

The home-learning environment (HLE) is critical for young children's early learning skills, yet little research has focused on HLEs in indigenous communities. This study examined the role of the HLE of 41 whānau (New Zealand Māori families and community) in relation to their young children's (M = 4 years, 4 months) early learning skills. Parents were observed reading a picture book and reminiscing about past events with their children and reported on their cultural affiliation, literacy, and numeracy practices. Children completed vocabulary, narrative, early literacy, early numeracy, and self-regulation tasks. Principal components analyses revealed an early academic skills factor (story comprehension, story memory, phonological awareness, letter recognition, number recognition, counting, and self-regulation) and an oral language skills factor (receptive and expressive vocabulary and story comprehension). Parents' observed book reading and reminiscing correlated with children's early academic skills, and their observed book reading correlated with children's oral language skills. Parent-child reminiscing was a unique, positive predictor of children's early academic skills. Oral narratives such as reminiscing may be a less visible cultural practice that supports children's early learning. Yet reminiscing is a recognized skill within indigenous communities that have a strong emphasis of intergenerational oral transmission of culturally relevant information. Reminiscing is a source of resilience for whānau, and perhaps for other communities around the world, that needs to be highlighted and taken into account for theory and policy about children's early learning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Abilities in the blind spot of testing regimes: Eliciting the benefits and the limitations of participatory research approaches for numeracy in adult basic education

In the past decade, the numeracy component in adult basic education has gained scholarly attention. The issue has been addressed by large-scale assessments of adults’ skills and intergovernmental policy agendas, but also by qualitative research into numeracy from the perspective of social practice theory. However, some aspects of numeracy are still under-researched. This article argues that adults with learning difficulties (also referred to by some as intellectual disabilities) and their numeracy-related abilities are still hidden in the blind spot of large-scale testing regimes. To address this underrepresentation, the authors present an overview of the key paradigms of a global testing culture, outline their two areas of interest, disability and numeracy, and identify the blind spots of large-scale international surveys. They consider ways of extending the range of methodological approaches to investigating (literacy and) numeracy, and opt for a participatory research approach, for which they identify five guiding principles. They showcase and reflect on these guiding principles by presenting selected data from a small-scale qualitative study on numeracy practices of adults with learning difficulties. Their aim is to demonstrate the benefits and limitations of using participatory research approaches in the context of investigating numeracy among all members of a country’s adult population.

Numeracy, adult education, and vulnerable adults: a critical view of a neglected field

This survey paper examines selected issues related to the intersection of three broad scholarly areas: numeracy, adult education, and vulnerability. Numeracy encompasses the ways in which people cope with the mathematical, quantitative, and statistical demands of adult life, and is viewed as an important outcome of schooling and as a foundational skill for all adults. The focus on vulnerability stems from the realization that concerns of policy makers and educators alike often center on populations seen as vulnerable. The paper is organized in five sections. After a brief introduction, Section 2 examines adult numeracy, focusing on five numeracy domains (health, financial, digital, civic, and workplace numeracy), literacy–numeracy linkages, functional and critical aspects of numeracy, and the centrality of numeracy practices, and notes sources of vulnerability for each of these. Section 3 sketches formal, non-formal and informal contexts in which adults learn or develop their numeracy, and examines factors that may be potential sources of vulnerability, including systemic factors and dispositional and affect factors. Section 4 reflects more broadly on the concept of vulnerability, introduces selected aspects of the papers published in this issue of ZDM Mathematics Education, and points to findings regarding adult learners who may be deemed vulnerable. The closing section summarizes conclusions and research directions regarding the intersection of the three core domains. Overall, the paper points to emerging research needs and educational challenges that are relevant to scholars, practitioners, and policy makers interested in developing the numeracy of adults as well as in the mathematics education of younger learners.

Numeracy practices and vulnerability in old age: interdependencies and reciprocal effects

In this paper we discuss individual numeracy practices of older people (age cohort 65 and above), concentrating on findings concerning interdependencies of numeracy practices and vulnerability and their reciprocal effects, drawing on first results of a qualitative, explorative study entitled ‘Numeracy as social practice in the course of time’. For this paper, we examine the issue of vulnerability in relation to dimensions such as financial and economic situation, health and social embeddedness. Drawing on the concept of ‘numeracy as social practice’ according to Baker and Street (International encyclopedia of adult education and training, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1996), we focus on the strategies of older people using numeracy practices and skills to lead independent, self-determined and autonomous lives, to experience individual life satisfaction and to avoid vulnerable situations. The findings, derived from in-depth interviews with the above-mentioned cohort, show that various meanings are attributed to numeracy practices in response to certain requirements and needs concerning personal well-being, as well as anticipating developments such as biographical transitions. We discuss how mathematical knowledge and skills are applied when transformed into individual numeracy practices. Our findings, which demonstrate the creative and meaningful use of numeracy practices according to personal needs, are then discussed within the scope of formal teaching and learning processes in basic adult education.