CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS



The National Institute for Literacy issued a wake-up call to the adult education community with the publication of Equ ipped for the Future. The voices of the 1500 adult learners motivated those who work in the field of adult education to respond, to critically evaluate, and ultimately rework the curricula, instructional and assessment practices, program structure s and supports currently in place. Similarly, the Framework for Adult Numeracy Standards documents the voices of adults who tell us about the significance of mathematical skills and knowledge in their lives. These voices create an expanded definition of numeracy, one that includes much more than computation or passing standardized tests. This emerging definition encourages all of us to give voice to our mathematical understandings, to take joy in accessing information and making meaning via a sol id sense of number, data, geometry and spatial reasoning, and algebra. It insists on the importance of making informed decisions and solving problems through the use of quantitative and spatial reasoning, and most importantly, it defines a numeracy tha t is situated in modern, relevant situations and addresses skills necessary to cope with present and future societal demands.

The adult education community needs to commit itself to this broadened definition of numeracy. Let's step back a litt le further. The adult literacy/basic education field needs to include numeracy in its agenda period. Not as an afterthought, but in a basic and systemic way. Numeracy must become an integrated component of all ABE, GED, ESOL, family literacy and wor kplace learning environments. Policy makers, administrators and curriculum developers on the national, state and local program levels need to include mathematical literacy in their mission of providing a second chance to adult learners. Classroom teac hers must step forward as leaders in reform and take on the challenge of creating mathematically empowering learning environments. Failing to take action means that we're willing to turn a deaf ear to what parents, workers and community members have t old us. Because we cannot consider that an option, we now turn our attention to what it might take to make lasting reform happen.


Recommendations for System Reform



The Framework for Adult Numeracy Sta ndards is a consensus statement about what the content of adult education classes should include. Each of the seven numeracy themes include key findings and implications for learning and teaching that are intended to serve as a map for adult educ ation practitioners and policy makers as they take the important next steps toward reforming instructional programs for adults. The ANPN Working Group members and several study and focus group participants have begun to speculate about how we're going to make those next steps happen. What will it take to create learning environments that support quality numeracy instruction? We have polled the members of the ANPN Planning Project for System Reform and have also

65


drawn upon the focused discussions which took place at the Conference on Mathematical Literacy. We are in agreement that several necessary conditions and system components must be in place for our vision to become a reality.


The Necessary Conditions





The System Components



The following is a discussion of each system component needed to suppor t the changes called for in the framework and suggestions for initial strategies for beginning the improvement in these areas.

Communication/Dissemination

A group writes a document . . . a tree falls in the forest. Al l stakeholders need to hear our "sounds," and be invited to make noise with us. Strategic dissemination is key all along the way. And so is two-way communication that both explains and invites feedback. We knew this as we began to talk about reform two years ago, so we established a communication structure through the Adult Numeracy Practitioners Network (ANPN). ANPN publishes a quarterly newsletter (The Math Practitioner) and has two very active Internet communication mechanisms: the ANPN Homep age and the NUMERACY listserve. We need to disseminate the framework and all subsequent products and processes through the network and through other existing adult education channels.

For the system to be reformed teachers have to know what the work environment requires and what is needed by the community in order to better prepare adult learners. There must be ongoing dialogue with industry if, in fact, the curriculum is to change to

66


meet the needs an d expectations of the workplace. There must also be communication with community stakeholders -- for their input into math reform and for them to become comfortable with the new approaches to math.

Adult education is able to react to system re form much more quickly than the K-12 system, but it should not have to work alone. Communication must occur across schools, K - 12 as well as community and technical colleges. Other institutions that work with adult learners, specifically community a nd technical colleges, need to be at the table during the discussion of system reform, and they must be making every effort to move forward along with adult basic education.

While effective communication needs to occur across schools, communiti es, and industry, it must begin within the adult education system. According to the Conference on Adult Mathematical Literacy (p.7), "although State Literacy Resource Centers and other agencies have been established to act as clearinghouses, materials from the national level filter very slowly to teachers at the local level and teachers remain largely unaware of standards, new teaching materials, technologies, and curricula in use outside their programs. Further, improvements in adult (numeracy) ed ucation are hindered when adult educators do not have opportunities to network, exchange ideas, and collaborate."

1996 - 1997




Numeracy Content Learning Standards

The Framework for Adul t Numeracy Standards should be used to develop a more specific set of learning outcomes that in turn guide the development of curricula, instructional materials and assessment. Questions that need to be considered are: What is

67


the "grain size" or specificity level of a learning standard? What generative and specific skills support each standard? How do we address levels of proficiency? Do we use one set of standards with benchmarks or do we create three or four? How do we refine and validate the standards?


1996 - 1997



Curriculum

The numeracy learning standards will guide adult learning programs as they update their curricula to respond to current and future demands of workplaces and communities. Local programs and state s will utilize the standards to evaluate and, in some cases, develop their own curricula. State resource centers or collaboratives might pool resources to develop model curricula. Major funding should be sought to support the development of this comp onent.

1997 - 1998



Assessment

Once clear numeracy learning standards are developed as statements of what adults should know and be able to do, we need to think about developing new performance and assessment tools. What kinds of evidence will show that people have met the standards? How will we test what we value? How do we align assessment with content standards and the curricula based on those standards? Too often, the testing instrument, whether it be the TABE or the GED, drives the curriculum. When a learner's only goal is to pass a test, it is difficult to teach math concepts needed for real life. Unfortunately, it often doesn't matter what adult educators consider the most important concepts or topics to teach. Students are very likely not to think of them as important unless they are reflected in the tests and assessment. No matter what assessment is designed, unless it is incorporated into individual instructor's assessments, GED exams, job placement tests, and the like, it will get lost in the need of both students and instructors to address what does appear on those assessment tools.

As more and more industries are beginning to consider national skill standards that are portable, adult educators need to follow closely to see what implications these standards might have for adult learners. How might industry skill standards affect how we should be assessing adult learners? Evaluation and assessment needs to communicate to learners a range of what they may need to learn and to certify that learners have mastered competencies so that employers and colleges will honor learners' educational accomplishment. We should assess and certify adult learner's workplace readiness with respect to math. While we're looking at industry standards, we ne ed also to look to business and industry to find out just what skills are needed to succeed in the work environment.

Assessment tools need to be designed to evaluate the ability to "process". How well do individuals and groups problem solve ? How are their reasoning skills? Is it possible to design concrete benchmarks for the process skills -- problem-solving/reasoning, communication, connections/relevance? How do we know when an adult is reasoning mathematically?

1996 - 1997



69


1997 - 1998



Staff Development
Ongoing staff development is critical for math reform. One stakeholder stated the need for staff development this way: "We have the same teachers we ha d yesterday, so without staff development, we will have the same teaching we had yesterday. We need to help teachers teach in a way they were not taught."

Too often in adult basic education programs, teachers are expected to be proficient in all areas -- math, reading, writing, social studies, science -- yet most adult educators are trained in only one of these domains, and rarely in the math domain. Therefore, many adult education teachers are uncomfortable with math. Teachers need profe ssional development in order to improve their own math skills as well as change their attitude and perspective toward math. We need to help teachers understand math concepts, not just be able to follow the steps. If we continue to teach the way that w e were taught, math will continue to be an elitist subject, only accessible to a very limited number of individuals. Until teachers see the value of math to real life situations, they will be unable to help their learners connect to math.
Along these same lines, teachers have to become knowledgeable and comfortable with the workplace. Teachers often teach the same concepts in the same way that they were taught. If teachers have no awareness of what math skills are needed for work, they cann ot possibly begin to prepare their learners for work environments. There needs to be communication between business and adult education with opportunities for experiencing hands-on what workers need for today and the future.

Staff development requires more than simply having adult education teachers attend training sessions. Teachers need opportunities to develop ongoing peer relationships where they are supported as they explore new strategies in their classrooms. Any kind of reform or c hange is scary. Teachers should not be expected to try to reform their practice without support.

1996 - 1997



70


Instructional Practices

Changes in instructional practice go hand in hand with staff development. Adult education tea chers need to learn new methods of presenting math topics in the classroom. For example, many teachers have not been trained to use manipulatives to present math concepts. Typically, they were taught to follow the algorithms which is what they, in tur n, teach their students. Yet many adult learners related that they learned best during hands-on activities. A part of staff development should be building teachers' comfort level with using hands-on materials.

Rather than the perception that the teacher is the one with all the knowledge, the new perception for math reform is teacher as "guide on the side" or facilitator. Teachers need to incorporate into the adult education classroom many opportunities for learners to discover math for th emselves. Supporting learners to work together and share their experiences will be necessary for system reform in math.

Conference participants suggested that "diversity in the classroom" was a reality which should be kept in mind as we talk a bout system reform. Diversity includes differences in linguistic and cultural backgrounds as well as diversity of learner goals and learning styles. For teachers to be prepared for this diversity in every adult education class, there must be effectiv e staff development and support systems in place.

1996 - 1998



Instructional Materials

The math materials developed for adult learners need to be seriously revised. Most of the materials presently available "often reflect some of th e worst traditions of K-12 mathematics education" (Proceedings of the Conference on Adult Mathematical Literacy, p. 6). There seems to be very little awareness of the MA ABE Math Standards and little evidence of any effort to provide learners with pra ctice in process skills, such as reasoning and problem-solving. Very few materials offer open-ended or cooperative problem-solving activities for adult learners.

1996 - 1998



71


Resources/Funding

Adequate funding and resources are needed for chan ge. Obviously, staff development requires funding earmarked for teachers to be able to seriously work on improving their math teaching abilities. For staff development to truly have a positive impact in the classroom, per student funding needs to be increased. Added funding is also necessary to ensure that adult learners have opportunities to use tools such as computers and calculators.
Appropriate salaries and support for more full-time teaching positions, would recognize and support teache rs to invest more in their profession and to actively seek to change the system.

At the Conference on Adult Mathematical Literacy, funding was called out as a critical factor in system reform. The lack of adequate funding negatively impacts ad ult education programs in four ways: 1. Limiting achievement of goals, by causing programs to be understaffed and under-equipped, and by creating time and financial restraints; 2. Limiting preparedness of teachers (and tutors), by restricting availa bility of and access to pre-service, in-service, and professionalization opportunities; 3. Inhibiting development of instructional materials and not allowing for adequate experimentation with new methods and resources; and 4. Limiting research initi atives (either academia-based or program-based). Research is essential to provide insights into teaching and learning processes of adult students, and to better understand the factors affecting the application of what they have learned in real-life con texts. (Proceedings of the Conference on Adult Mathematical Literacy, p. 7)

1996 - ongoing



Research

There is little research on how adults do mathematics or how they acquire new mathematical skills. There is also very little on the effectiveness and impact of adult numeracy instruction. This information is essential to guide us to improve instructional programs. If we are to enter upon major reform, we must be supported by a research base.

72


1996 and ongoing



Program Standards, Outcomes and Evaluation

Participants at the Conference on Adult Mathema tical Literacy recognized that accountability demands affect math instruction and reform. There is concern that current methods for ensuring accountability -- the use of data such as standardized test results -- do not truly reflect or measure learner' s accomplishments. As long as funders expect this kind of accountability, teachers will be inhibited in their ability to truly address the needs of their adult learners.

Some major industries are now focusing on developing industry-specific sk ill standards. If these standards are implemented and used as a basis for hiring, these standards will have to be a part of the discussion on math reform. Will there be some basic math content and skill that all industries feel is critical to employe e success?

System reform must build in an accountability system so that we're not in the same place twenty years from now. We need to develop standards that everyone can understand and accept. Then we need to be held accountable for prepari ng our adult learners so that they can meet these standards.

1997 - 1998




73


Return to ANPN Frameworks Table of Contents
Webmaster / Adult Numeracy Practitioners Network