- Develop a growth mindset
- Feel mathematical freedom
- Share a sense of discover with their students. It’s ok if you don’t know all the answers.
- Meeting the needs of adult learners: an overview of the math skills gap in the United States, the need for high-quality adult education and training experiences, and how the Power in Numbers initiative has addressed these challenges.
- The opportunity in OER: an introduction to OER and its potential benefits for the classroom, including reducing cost and increasing efficiency.
- Making OER work for you: an outline of three actionable steps for educators to easily use and adapt OER for their specific needs.
- How to get started: a list of recommended OER resources, tips and best practices.
- Lessons learned: a real-life case study from Affordable Learning Georgia on how adopting OER saved textbook costs and increased success for its university students.
- ABE/ASE Curriculum
- Career Pathways Contextualized Bridge Curriculum
- Entrepreneurial Contextualized Bridge Curriculum
- Healthcare Contextualized Bridge Curriculum
- IT Bridge Contextualized Curriculum
- Manufacturing Contextualized Bridge Curriculum
- Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL) Contextualized Bridge Curriculum
- Annotated PowerPoint presentations
- A mathematics observation tool
- Two math classroom videos
- A Video Resource Package that includes descriptive annotations of the two classroom videos, lesson plans, and a sequence of planned activities
- Other supplementary video-viewing resources
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This report explores the potential for technology to enhance the teaching and learning of advanced math skills to adults.
Publication Year
2017
Given the ongoing growth of technical careers and demand for high-skill labor, there is a particular need for more technology to increase and quicken access for adult learners studying advanced mathematics. The adult classroom presents numerous barriers for all stakeholders; market signals require meeting learners and educators where they are.
Technology offers a promising fix to many of the challenges within adult education, but is not a silver bullet. It is not a cure-all for complex issues around funding, degree pathways, and teacher preparation, but presents promising solutions to many systemic challenges around access, resourcing, and contextualization.
This report showcases the potential for technology to enhance the teaching and learning of advanced math skills to adults, providing nuanced guidance for funders and educational innovators. We will discuss key stakeholders, their needs, and opportunities for investment to capitalize on the potential of technology to better ready adult learners for the workforce. In particular, we will delve into areas of key need like contextualization of classroom resources and professional development for educators.
Following a review of needs for relevant stakeholders (employers, adult learners, and educators) and a discussion of technology’s promise, we will introduce “three A’s” of adult edtech: Accessibility, Adaptability, and Applicability. These encapsulate and represent many ongoing cross-disciplinary calls to tailor new tools and approaches to the needs of learners and the educators who serve them, ultimately laddering up to the requirements of industry job creators. Several such efforts and technologies are particularly relevant to advanced math, and we will hone in on open educational resources (OER), a parallel movement in education to leverage digital technology and open source licensing to expand access.
This document was funded by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Career, Technical and Adult Education under the project titled “Power in Numbers: Advancing Math for Adult Learners” (OER Math project), Contract Number: ED-VAE-14-D-0006/0004, and it includes input from adult education practitioners, researchers, and policy experts.
Benefits and Uses
This document is the first in a series of three reports on the state of the technology market for adult learners of advanced mathematics.
This initial report focuses on demand, including demand for advanced math skills, demand for new tools and approaches that meet learner and educator needs, and demand for teacher training to support deployment of new tools. Subsequent reports will focus on the landscape of existing tools for learning advanced mathematics, as well as opportunities to improve the creation and deployment of new tools for adult learners.
The purpose of these reports is to capitalize on the intersection of grassroots resource development, technology innovation, and labor market demand for skills to inform the future of adult advanced math education. In doing so we hope to illustrate the opportunity space for funders and technology developers to cater to this underserved market.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This presentation describes how math anxiety affects learners and specific techniques to help ease and overcome these effects.
Publication Year
2018
Mathematics anxiety affects almost half of the learners in adult education classrooms. Fear interferes with the part of the brain needed for reasoning and problem-solving. Math anxiety can also affect teachers in ways that negatively affect students. In this presentation, participants learn how math anxiety affects learners and specific stratgegies to help ease and overcome these effects.
Strategy 1: Make students aware of the physiological effects of math anxiety. Research shows that when someone is experiencing math anxiety there is a physiological effect similar to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Strategy 2: Change the learner’s mindset about their potential and teach math in a way that is open and free enough for them to learn and grow. Studies show that learners learn best when they are active learners, which can be encouraged with a growth mindset.
Strategy 3: Promote ideas of mathematical freedom because students' feelings of loss of control can shut brain function. Refrain from tying self-esteem to success in math.
Strategy 4: Encourage student authorship of processes and ideas. Give students multiple solution tasks, which opens up authorship and promotes ideas. That shifts the focus from a correct answer to what I think.
Strategy 5: Create a positive learning environment by establishing positive norms in the classroom through things like validating mistakes.
Stragtegy 6: Develop a memory bank of positive math experiences. Students may use pictures or write down experiences from class and deposit them into their bank. Students can look back at their positive experience to combat negative self-talk.
Strategies that can help teachers overcome their math anxiety include:
What the experts say
This webinar introduces ideas for addressing math anxiety and the importance of developing a growth mindset for learning. Math anxiety is a topic that must be addressed and understood by practitioners and learners alike in order to promote a growth mindset and deeper learning. The resources identified in the webinar will help practitioners become more informed on the topic.
Understanding math anxiety can also address a practitioner's need to change their teaching practice to allow for a safe learning environment, and explore and discuss mathematics. This in turn supports some of the Mathematical Practices especially Math Practice 1: perseverance in problem solving.
Acknowledging that many adult educators are, themselves, anxious about doing and teaching mathematics is important for the field. However, the speaker’s example of trying to quickly remember a fact such as 5 times 7 during a presentation and an accompanying moment of panic is different in kind from the debilitating power that math anxiety can wield.
The most useful feature of the resource is the suggested strategies to use with learners, but actual examples of the strategies would have been helpful. The speaker mentions that a presentation of this material would have benefitted from interactive mathematical activities, which is true.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This mathematics content framework provides comprehensive, assessment-aligned support to adult educators and identifies instructional materials that have been aligned with the Data Recognition Corporation TABE 11/12 Blueprints and the GED Testing Service GED High Impact Indicators.
The Kentucky Skills U Instructional Framework Series was designed to provide a common instructional foundation for all of Kentucky’s adult education providers. This resource was developed by a state-level team and was informed by local providers and is intended to align with the LINCS Professional Development Center State Leadership Self-Assessment Tool, the LINCS Adult Education Teacher Competencies, the Data Recognition Corporation TABE 11/12 Blueprints, the GED® Testing Service High Impact Indicators (HIIs), and the College and Career Readiness Standards. The framework has four components: The Student Framework; The Mathematics Instructional Framework; The Reasoning Through Language Arts Instructional Framework; The Instructional Technology Framework.
This resource focuses on The Mathematics Instructional Framework and provides instructional resources that are accompanied by links, descriptions, screenshots and video tutorials. The resources are aligned with the Data Recognition Corporation TABE 11/12 Blueprints, the GED® Testing Service High Impact Indicators (HIIs), and the College and Career Readiness Standards domains. While the resources are designed for the K-12 setting, they can be used as is or revised to meet the needs of adult learners.
What the experts say
This resource contains an enormous amount of material in the lesson plans and the links for instructional video clips. To Kentucky’s credit, the Kentucky Skills U Instructional Framework series is relevant for all adult educators. They have designed a useful tool that provides a common instructional foundation. In developing this resource, they aligned instruction with college and career readiness standards, student assessment criteria, and program performance metrics. It also utilized the LINCS Professional Development Center State Leadership Self-Assessment Tool, the LINCS Adult Education Teacher Competencies, the Data Recognition Corporation TABE 11/12 Blueprints, and the GED® Testing Service High Impact Indicators (HIIs). That makes it significant and pertinent to teachers in other states.
One concern is the overemphasis on procedural mathematics in both the lesson plans and the video resources. Many lessons have an "I do--you do--we do" structure, representing a transmission model of instruction. The resource is limited in its usefulness for developing conceptual understanding, problem solving skills and real-world applications, which are also promoted by the CCRS. These important goals are less amenable to short, single day, self-contained, teacher-focused lessons.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2018
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This introductory guide for educators is part of the Power in Numbers initiative, funded by the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). Power in Numbers aims to help adult learners receive the higher-level math skills they need to succeed. This guide provides educators with step-by-step instructions for identifying, reviewing and remixing high-quality OER.
Improving Math Instruction with Open Educational Resources is an introductory guide that provides step-by-step instructions for identifying, reviewing and remixing high-quality OER. This resource is aimed at adult learning educators interested in exploring open educational resources (OER) for the adult classroom. The insights are drawn from the experiences of educators who hail from 21 states and a variety of classroom types—including community colleges, community centers, correctional facilities and local education agencies. The guide is comprised of five sections:
Benefits and Uses
This introductory guide is aimed at adult learning educators and administrators interested in exploring open educational resources (OER) for the adult classroom. The guide includes a list of actionable tips and recommended online resources for educators getting started with OER. Educators and administrators can also present this guide when hosting OER meetups or discussions.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2019
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
Adult English learners (ELs) may need numeracy instruction to navigate daily life or understand health information, so this paper examines numeracy skill levels and home skill use of adult ELs in Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014 data and recommends implications for EL numeracy instruction.
Research on adult English learners (ELs) typically (and appropriately) focuses on language-related skills. However, adult ELs may need numeracy instruction to navigate daily life or understand health information. Little is known about how ELs use numeracy skills at home and connections of skill use with related electronic numeracy skills. The purpose of this paper is to examine numeracy skill levels and home skill use of adult ELs. Employing Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) 2012/2014 data, the paper begins with identifying adult ELs’ numeracy skill levels. The relationship of skill level with skill use is then analyzed to determine how six discrete groups of ELs at various skill levels employ numeracy skills, and to describe characteristics and backgrounds of each group for adult education instructors and interested stakeholders. The paper concludes with recommended implications for instruction from Curry’s (2017) instructional guide based on the PIAAC Numeracy Framework.
Benefits and Uses
This research expands on earlier 2012 and 2014 findings reported by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). It addresses further useful variables related to the needs of ELs to acquire numeracy and math skills.
Adult educators may find this report useful in different ways, depending on the role they play in the field and on the needs of the population they serve. All readers working in adult education, whether they serve ELs or native speakers of English, will benefit from the Abstract and initial remarks, which offer a useful summary of the purpose of the study in meeting the researched numeracy skills required by adult English learners (ELs) in the United States. Readers who do not serve ELs will also recognize the benefit to native English speakers in addressing the needs described in this study.
The Abstract and the introductory remarks that follow, define the difference between numeracy and math skills and provide a review of the related at-home needs faced by most lower-level Els and even native English speakers in programs. Those needs better define curriculum topics that should be addressed more in teaching ELs. Administrators can draw from this analysis to design programming to address the numeracy skill needs of English learners. Curriculum developers will find specific details to integrate into curriculum segments.
The article abstract describes the organization of this report. The report initially defines the term EL as “immigrant adults with low English language skills in speaking, listening, reading, and/or writing, [who] may seek to learn English to enhance their ability to communicate with, among others, neighbors, coworkers, child caretakers, and doctors in English.” That definition is not always clearly defined as such in later references to ELs, but generally, the research addresses the numeracy needs of selected adults, ages 25 to 74 years, first-generation immigrants, who experience challenges with English proficiency. Although that definition is limited, adult educators will find that the lessons learned and the recommendations made as a result of this study will provide implications for additional adult learners, including native English speakers in some cases.
The details relating to each aspect of the research are addressed in response to three questions:
1. What are average numeracy skill levels and numeracy at-home use rates of adult English learners (ELs) in the aggregate?
2. Controlling for education attainment, family background, and health, how does numeracy at-home use of adult ELs predict numeracy skill levels?
3. How does numeracy at-home use of adult ELs differ among discrete groups based on covariates (from Research Question [RQ] 2) and numeracy skill levels? What are descriptive characteristics of each group?
This report includes tables and charts showing the types of numeracy skills surveyed, the characteristics of six groups in relation to several issues (education, health, income, and more), and the results found in each listed aspect. The details presented in these tables and charts may serve adult educators in the US with (1) data to support proposal requests for budget items relating to those findings and (2) useful lists of skills that programs may want to address in integrating numeracy and health topics in language instruction, both for EL’s and native English-speaking students lacking literacy skills. Proposal writers will find the data reported useful in supporting proposals to fund related instruction. Future researchers will find helpful guidance in developing further data to pursue studies to deepen and expand the field's knowledge of adult English learners' numeracy skill needs.
The actual description of the study, conducted to expand on data already provided by PIAAC on the topic, will be useful to other researchers who wish to also use the final section, Conclusions and Recommendations for Future Research, as a guide to provide further data to programs in integrating numeracy and math into instruction. The Reference List will also provide future researchers and other authors with resources to develop further instructional tools to promote numeracy and math instruction in adult education programs.
The Implications for Practice Engagement and Health and the Implications for Instruction sections will be more significant and useful to instructors and curriculum developers who wish to integrate English language instruction with numeracy and health topics leading to improving the lives and educational opportunities of Els in the United States. Since numeracy skills are not often addressed in English classes, one hopes that instructors will be motivated to integrate these essential skills into instruction, and they will find helpful ideas in this resource on how to do that.
Most findings in this research are not likely to add a great deal of actual knowledge about ELs the field, since practitioners tend to be very familiar with the fact that ELs face numeracy and math challenges in their lives although they don’t often have students practice those skills in instruction. However, Table 1 provides helpful reminders of items that ELs face in their daily lives, some of which may be new to practitioners. Perhaps not so widely recognized among practitioners is the relationship of numeracy needs to health needs, expressed in Table 2. As a result, practitioners might consider integrating functional health-related computations (reading prescriptions, interpreting dosages, and more) into their language instruction. In addition, since this research found that learners with low numeracy skills also often face health-related issues, instruction might also include helpful strategies for maintaining good health in stressful environments.
What the experts say
This resource makes a useful distinction between numeracy skills and mathematics with numeracy being the skills employed in one's daily life such as budgeting or measuring medicine correctly compared to abstract mathematics concepts.
It also addresses a very big gap in adult education: numeracy and math instruction among English Language Learners. Experienced adult-education practitioners have long recognized the lack of numeracy and math skills among low-level learners. However, there has not been a strong movement to date to encourage the acquisition of numeracy and math skills in instruction among ELs. Practitioners recognize that the many English learners seeking to earn a high school equivalency diploma do receive math instruction once their English skills are at an adequate level; however, numeracy is not always a routine focus in English language classes. In fact, the need for numeracy skills has often been overlooked. Instruction often limits practice to the language needs of ELs without much attention to helping them integrate numeracy and math into practice, including math terminology, which can vary considerably among different countries.
This study expands on very useful findings from the 2012 and 2014 report published by the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). The analysis of PIAAC data focused on English learners suggests there is a need to offer programming related to numeracy skills to a subset of adults who seek English language instruction. The recommendation made here is to integrate numeracy skills drawn from PIAAC's Numeracy framework into instruction for English learners. The resource provides a helpful list of numeracy and lower-level math skills, especially related to financial literacy, that students regularly use at home and that instructors should integrate into practice. English instruction typically focuses on learners' needs, so incorporating aspects of numeracy makes sense. In that regard, more than teaching ELs to make doctor appointments for themselves or their children, for example, instructors might do well to teach them how to measure doses and physical data using the U.S. mathematical system and terminology. This resource includes a Table 1 list of Items for At-Home Use of Numeracy Skills, which might come in handy in developing curricula. As noted, English teachers would benefit from training on ways to effectively address the numeracy needs of adult English learners while math instructors would benefit from how to adapt instruction to make it accessible to English learners.
One newer concept exposed in this research is the well-connected data showing the relationship between low literacy and numeracy skills to the health needs of ELs. In addition to adding financial numeracy and/or basic math into plans, instructors might also integrate health topics into instruction, including related computations that might be helpful to students. Under the section “Implications for Instruction,” several ideas on actual practice are shared.
Readers playing different roles in adult-education programs will find different aspects of this resource helpful, from using the very detailed research information in proposals, to making curriculum changes to include numeracy/math/health skills, to integrating segments in instruction that encourage learners to not only speak the language of math but apply numeracy/math skills in solving problems that will help them improve the quality of their lives as immigrants or as other adult learners in the United States.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2020
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
This Open Educational Resource Book it covers whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percentages in trade professions.
The Math for Trades: Volume 1 textbook is an open source textbook, freely available online. Math for Trades: Volume 1 introduces the building blocks for math which will ready students for more advanced math needed to continue their trades education. The book includes whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percents, all contextualized to different trades, thereby also introducing relevant vocabulary and scenarios. The material is presented from a trades perspective with easy-to-understand examples and video explanations accompanying questions. Each lesson includes practice questions and quizzes to reinforce learning. There are additional Practice Tests included in the last section of the book. Lastly, practice questions answers are provided so that students can check and revisit material, as needed.
The access page includes instructions for students on how to access and use this text book. Users can read the book online or download it in PDF, eReader and Kindle versions.
What the experts say
This Open Educational Resource Book it covers whole numbers, fractions, decimals, and percentages in a very procedural method. Many of the problem sets are given in a context that most adults will understand. A book that can be used in Adult Education Mathematics Classes for additional practice has three strengths. First, the approach into each topic is written with friendly language, putting students at ease. For math phobic individuals, this approach might be preferable. Second, many topics were first presented visually to begin to develop some conceptual understanding of topics. Third, the assessment questions were, for the most part, very trade related and required some higher order thinking skills.
In introducing a concept, the text provided visual models in an attempt to address conceptual understanding. It would be helpful to follow-up that up with questions where students could show a representation of what was happening in a problem. There is also little effort to show visually fraction or percent operations. No number lines, no estimating, no thinking about what the processes meant and when to use them. Rather the text is heavy into procedures with no underlying connection to why these procedures work. Procedural skill and fluency are more than just memorizing steps. They are understanding deeply what it means, for instance, when you divide by a fraction. Instead the student is presented with more procedures and little or no connection to models or why the procedure worked.
Resource Notice
This site includes links to information created by other public and private organizations. These links are provided for the user’s convenience. The U.S. Department of Education does not control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of this non-ED information. The inclusion of these links is not intended to reflect their importance, nor is it intended to endorse views expressed, or products or services offered, on these non-ED sites.
Please note that privacy policies on non-ED sites may differ from ED’s privacy policy. When you visit lincs.ed.gov, no personal information is collected unless you choose to provide that information to us. We do not give, share, sell, or transfer any personal information to a third party. We recommend that you read the privacy policy of non-ED websites that you visit. We invite you to read our privacy policy.
Publication Year
2020
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
Illinois Community College Board, Division of Adult Education & Literacy, has designed several comprehensive model contextualized curricula, which includes instructions for use, supplemental materials, lesson plans, and related resources. Illinois Community College Board, Division of Adult Education & Literacy, has designed several comprehensive model contextualized curricula, which include:Publication Year
2020
Download Resource
You must be logged in to download this resource. Register now if you don't have an account.
Abstract:
The Standards-in-Action (SIA) 2.0 classroom observation system teaches you how to observe effective teaching and learning practices that reflect the crucial instructional advances in literacy. The training and tools deepen educators’ understanding of the intent and meaning of your state mathematic standards through teacher-friendly tools. They strengthen practitioner knowledge about vital literacy content and research-based instructional strategies and their usefulness with English learners (ELs).
StandardsWork, Inc. produced the Standards-in-Action (SIA) 2.0 mathematic classroom observation system under contract ED-91990018-C-004019 with the U.S. Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education for the SIA project, 2018–2023. The classroom observation system is designed to be formative and forward-looking for administrators, teacher trainers, and instructional leaders—where the observer is invested in the instructors’ success. The observation training tools measure whether lesson content is rigorous and relevant for the level defined by the state-adopted standards. The tools also focus on ensuring activities productively engage students and connect to students’ funds of knowledge. One additional Core Action applies when ELs are in the classroom. It identifies strategic scaffolds that provide ELs access to lesson content. The ready-to-use training materials include:
Publication Year
2023