Colleagues,

I sent this message a few days ago but the links to the readings did  
not appear, so here they are -- at the bottom of the message.

David J. Rosen
Special Topics Discussion Leader
djrosen at comcast.net


 From September 17th - 21st, the Special Topics list will hold a  
discussion with Mary Jane Schmitt, Myrna Manly and Dr. Lynda  
Ginsburg, authors of The Components of Numeracy, an occasional paper  
published by the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and  
Literacy in December 2006.

You or your colleagues who may wish to join this discussion can  
subscribe by going to

http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/specialtopics

After you complete the simple registration form (30 seconds) you will  
receive an email asking you to confirm that you wish to subscribe.   
Immediately reply to the email to complete your subscription. After  
the discussion ends you can unsubscribe from the same Web address, or  
stay on for the next discussion.

There is a discussion taking place on the Special Topics list now  
about International Education. It will end Friday, September 14th. If  
you do not want to get the posts from that discussion, wait until the  
15th to subscribe -- but don't wait too long.  The Components of  
Numeracy discussion begins on September 17th.

Authors' Biographies

Lynda Ginsburg is a senior researcher for mathematics education at  
Rutgers University and is currently conducting NSF-sponsored research  
on adult learners' work with their children on mathematics homework  
and on mathematics learning in out-of-school settings. Prior to this  
position, she worked at the National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL)  
for 12 years where she participated in the development of a number of  
adult education projects including Captured Wisdom, the Professional  
Development Kit (PDK) and LiteracyLink. She has taught mathematics in  
high schools, in ABE/GED and workplace programs, and in community  
college developmental classes. She holds a Ph.D. in mathematics  
education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Myrna Manly (B.A. Mathematics, M.A. Education, M.S. Applied  
Mathematics) has experience teaching mathematics at many academic  
levels, most recently as a Professor of Mathematics at El Camino  
College. In that capacity, she developed curricula designed to adapt  
the foundation courses for the needs of at-risk students. She also is  
the author of The GED Math Problem Solver, a textbook that integrates  
all the strands of math into a coherent approach to test preparation.  
In addition to instruction, she has been involved with the assessment  
of the mathematics proficiency of adults as the Mathematics  
Specialist for the 1988 version of the GED test and as a member of  
the numeracy team for the Adult Literacy and Lifeskills Survey (ALL).  
She also brings experience in Professional Development to the  
project, having worked with states and programs, facilitating staff- 
development and train-the-trainer workshops (e.g. Making Math  
Meaningful in CA and VA, GED as Project in VA, GED Math Institute in  
Washington, DC) that were aimed at improving mathematics instruction  
to adults.

Mary Jane Schmitt has been an adult educator for over 35 years. She  
has taught mathematics in ABE, GED, and ESL programs, has worked at  
the Massachusetts Department of Education, and is currently a project  
director at TERC in Cambridge, MA, where she directs the Adult  
Numeracy at TERC projects. Mary Jane is the co-author and co-principal  
investigator for the Extending Mathematical Power (EMPower) Project  
Mathematics Curriculum for Adult Learners recently published by Key  
Curriculum Press. She is a co-founder of the Adult Numeracy Network  
(ANN). Mary Jane's undergraduate degree is in mathematics and she  
holds an M.Ed. from Harvard University. She is the 2004 recipient of  
the Kenneth J. Mattran Award for exemplary work at the national and  
international levels given by the Commission on Adult Basic Education  
(COABE).

Discussion Preparation Recommended Readings
“The Components of Numeracy” (especially the summary on p. 34) http:// 
www.ncsall.net/fileadmin/resources/research/op_numeracy.pdf

The Adult Numeracy Network’s “Teaching and Learning Principles” and  
“Professional Development Principles.” http://www.literacynet.org/ann/ 
teachingandlearningprinciplesv610.30.05 (newest).pdf

The Inclusion of Numeracy in Adult Basic Education, Volume 3, Chapter  
5, Review of Adult Learning and Literacy
http://www.ncsall.net/?id=566
To gain insight into the importance of numeracy or quantitative  
literacy in today’s society, select a few chapters that interest you  
from “Mathematics and Democracy: The case for Quantitative  
Literacy.”  http://www.maa.org/ql/mathanddemocracy.html

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