Numeracy

Early Numeracy Project

The Ministry of Education funded a three-year research initiative called The Early Numeracy Project with a goal to enhance numeracy learning for our youngest learners, particularly those at-risk in the area of mathematics. The development team was led by UBC math educators and involved teachers from around the Province of British Columbia. The assessment items and instructional tasks developed are the result of three years of research and field-testing in many school districts in BC.

Four tools for teachers have been created through the Early Numeracy Project.

The first document entitled Assessing Early Numeracy ( 1.05 MB PDF) is a selection of assessment items which teachers can use to determine numeracy strengths and weaknesses. It is designed as an assessment for learning tool.

Supporting Early Numeracy ( 1.9 MB PDF) is a companion component of helpful suggestions for ways to address early difficulties in numeracy. This component is composed of activities to support small group intervention.

Supporting Early Numeracy is complemented by Whole Group Follow-up ( 310 K B PDF), which provides helpful activities and suggestions for whole class support.

A final document, Math for Families - Helping Your Child With Math at Home ( 2 MB PDF), a resource guide for parents to use at home to support and develop their children's math skills.

The Early Numeracy Project focused on three questions:

  1. What assessment can be done in Kindergarten and Grade 1 to inform instruction so that fewer students need intervention later?
  2. What are some ways to identify children's strengths and weaknesses in early numeracy?
  3. What instructional strategies effectively enhance numeracy understanding?

These documents complement the BC Performance Standards by identifying strengths and weaknesses and providing extra support to move students along the performance continuum. The assessment guides are designed for use with individual students at the end of Kindergarten or early in Grade 1. Some teachers have found it useful for assessing older students as well.

Note: PDF files require Acrobat Reader to view or print.