QuickSmart Numeracy Program for Middle School Students User Guide

Abstract

Middle school students who have problems with learning basic number facts, face many difficulties at school. These students often need intensive support to bring them 'up to speed' with basic skills such as the recall of number facts and problem solving. The QuickSmart Numeracy Program is an educational intervention designed to support numeracy skills development. A research team at the University of New England through the National Centre of Science, Information and Communication Technology, and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia developed QuickSmart. QuickSmart allows a focus on low-achieving students' characteristics as learners and their efficiency of cognitive processing. It also facilitates the delivery of instruction that emphasises deliberate practice and provides extensive feedback on task performance. The program is called QuickSmart to encourage students to become "Quick" in their response speed and "Smart" in their strategy use when learning the basic skills required in numeracy. It focuses on the role of automaticity in developing students' understanding and quick recall of basic academic facts. Ultimately, QuickSmart aims to free up the working memory of students so that they can engage meaningfully in demanding school activities like problem solving and multiple computations. The User Guide for the QuickSmart Numeracy Program has been developed to assist anyone involved in supporting students with learning difficulties in numeracy - classroom teachers, support teachers, teacher assistants, parents and carers. The lesson activities, sample worksheets, assessment strategies and resources (both hard copy and electronic) included in this program are designed to support learners who require careful and explicit instruction.