Literacy and Numeracy  |  Numeracy in Subject Areas

Employing numeracy in the subject areas has the dual effect of enriching students’ understanding of the subject area content and of increasing their numeracy skills.  For students to develop breadth and depth in their numeracy skills, they must experience numeracy across all their subject/discipline areas. To become numerate, students need to recognize quantitative or spatial information within situations and use numeracy skills within the context where it exists.

Content area teachers know their subject matter the best and are in the strongest position to support their students’ success in that subject. They understand the numeracy demands of their content and recognize the quantitative and spatial concepts specific to their subject area. Teachers should provide explicit instruction so that students can develop the numeracy skills associated with their specific subject area.

Within the subject areas, students use numeracy to:

• understand and use small and large numbers
• interpret or represent information in graphs and charts
• understand and manage time
• visualize how objects are positioned within a space
• estimate distances