Queensland Numeracy Research and Development Project Final Report: Teachers enhancing numeracy. Report to the Department of Science and Training

Abstract

Executive Summary: A major policy objective of the Australian Government is to ensure that all students attain sound foundations in literacy and numeracy. In 1997 all Education Ministers greed to a National Literacy and Numeracy Plan that provides a coherent framework for achieving improvement in student literacy and numeracy outcomes. The 1999 Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century contains the national literacy and numeracy goal that "students should have attained the skills of numeracy and English literacy, such that every student should be numerate, able to read, write, spell and communicate at an appropriate level." In support of the numeracy component of the National Plan, the Australian Government implemented the Numeracy Research and Development Initiative in 2001. This initiative consisted of two complementary strands – a national project strand and a strategic States and Territory projects strand. Teachers Enhancing Numeracy is one of ten strategic research projects undertaken by State and Territory education authorities across Australia. The purpose of these projects was to investigate a broad range of teaching and learning strategies that lead to improved numeracy outcomes. The research focus of the Queensland project was to determine the elements of learning environments that promote enhanced student numeracy outcomes. Learning environment was defined as the school context in which students learn, including school programmes and plans, teachers' classroom practices (their use of time, space, resources and a variety of teaching strategies), partnerships between teachers and students, and between schools and families. The project involved the three Queensland education sectors which together nominated eight primary schools (five Government, two Catholic, and one Independent) to be part of the project. The schools were chosen to reflect the diversity of communities in Queensland so that the research findings would be broadly applicable across all primary schools. The project focused on 37 mathematics classrooms across the eight schools, with up to six teachers participating in each school.