ADULT NUMERACY @ TERC

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TIAN is a professional development model for adult numeracy teachers. It focuses on three areas: teachers' mathematics content knowledge, classroom practice, and the connection to state standards.

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Creating engaging mathematics learning experiences has long been a focus of TERC’s work. In 2000, TERC widened its reach to include adult math learners with a major grant from the National Science Foundation to found the EMPower (Extending Mathematical Power) project. The project developed a comprehensive mathematics curriculum for non-traditional students enrolled in adult basic education, pre-GED, GED, and transitional courses to college, as well students in alternative high schools, workplace settings or corrections programs.

The resulting published EMPower curriculum fills the tremendous need for a math and numeracy program for adult basic education. EMPower helps adults develop mathematical proficiency to more effectively engage with the world, whether that be at work, at home as parents and caregivers, in the community, or as they seek high school credentials and further education.

In order to serve adult numeracy teachers, TERC is now offering EMPower Professional Development Workshops. Teachers will expand their ideas of what it means to do math, focusing on reasoning, communication, and real-world problem solving.

arrowA more recent project, TIAN (Teachers Investigating Adult Numeracy) is developing a new in-service professional development model for adult basic education teachers of mathematics. The model uses teacher inquiry and reflective learning to engage teachers in learning how to design and implement effective mathematics instructional approaches for algebra and data analysis.

arrowThe Statistics for Action project is based on the premise that community groups provide a rich contextual platform for mathematics learning. Community groups should be and are one of the domains where adults exercise their mathematical thinking to solve problems and communicate with others. Participants are already engaged in a project that has high stakes, requires learning, and increases their sense of efficacy. Community groups need ways to maximize their effectiveness. They have limited resources, but with more mathematical understanding (more pointed use of facts and figures), they can make their efforts count for that much more.