Numeracy and literacy skills have become increasingly important in modern labour markets. The large gender differences that several studies have identified have therefore sparked considerable attention among researchers and policy makers. Little is known about the moment in which such gaps emerge, how they evolve and if their evolution differs…

Research tells us much about the effects of primary and lower-secondary schooling on skills inequality, but we know less about the impact of the next stage of education. This article uses a differences-in-differences analysis of data on literacy and numeracy skills in PISA 2000 and SAS 2011/12 to assess the contribution of upper-secondary…

Numeracy Skills testing was brought to the forefront following the Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers report in 2015. The announcement was met with much concern by many pre-service teachers (PSTs). Given the body of research associated with mathematics anxiety and assessment, which suggests that students' self-efficacy and confidence in their…

Australian teachers, recruited via Facebook, completed an online survey about aspects of numeracy. The survey was designed to explore views on numeracy and capacity to respond to numeracy tasks. In this paper, we focus primarily on responses to two numeracy tasks--one numerical, the other requiring critical evaluation. On the first item, 40%…

Economic success and commitment to the social benefits of inclusive training opportunities are important goals for public Vocational Education and Training (VET). Currently in Australia, VET policy is a shared responsibility between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories. Priorities for investment are juggled between improving efficiency…

This article examines cross-country variations in adult skills inequality and asks why skills in Anglophone countries are so unequal. Drawing on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development's recent Survey of Adult Skills and other surveys, it investigates the differences across countries and country groups in inequality in both…

This paper reports on one phase of a long-term project investigating mathematical content knowledge of pre-service teachers. A cohort of second year PSTs conducted a diagnostic assessment and a series of associated tutoring sessions with a primary aged child. The focus here is on the PSTs' ability to make appropriate task choices following the…

In this paper, three elements of primary pre-service teachers' relationships with mathematics are explored: mathematical achievement, feelings about the subject, and confidence to teach mathematics. At the beginning of their programme, under half of the pre-service teachers did not meet the numeracy requirements and took part in a support…

In many Western countries the pressure exerted on immigrants to integrate has become intense in recent years. Efforts to preserve their ethnic identity through multicultural recognition has now been replaced by the requirements of active civic participation and assimilation. Of course integration is considered important not only for the immigrant…

Previous research has suggested a positive intergenerational relationship between a parent's childhood cognitive skill level and their own children's skill levels. Yet we also know that individuals' skill levels change during childhood and into adulthood, not least as a result of their education, training and work experience. Thus parents' adult…

The introduction of the subject Mathematical Literacy (ML) as part of the education reform process, led to the development of many large scale in-service programmes designed to train practising teachers to teach the new subject. The purpose of the study is to examine the challenges associated with providing in-service training for teachers of ML,…

"The Condition of Education 2018" is a congressionally mandated annual report summarizing the latest data on education in the United States. This report is designed to help policymakers and the public monitor educational progress. This report contains indicators on the state of education in the United States, from prekindergarten through…

In this paper we evaluate the labour market value of basic skills in the UK, focusing on the wage and employment returns to having better literacy and numeracy skills. We draw on literacy and numeracy assessments undertaken by all cohort members of the UK 1970 British Cohort Study. The data used are very rich and allow us to account for potential…

In 1999 Ministers responsible for school education agreed to the new set of "National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century," with the aim of providing high quality schooling in Australia which would secure for students the necessary knowledge, understanding, skills and values for a productive and rewarding life. As a…