Numeracy in Practice

<< Background >>We applied for this project because there is an urgent and growing need to improve the quality of numerate behaviour among adults from multiple perspectives. Strong numeracy skills not only enhance individuals' employability but also enable them to fully participate in democratic societies. However, despite the clear need for improved numeracy—recognised in policy documents, reports, and by adult education providers—numeracy remains significantly underdeveloped compared to literacy education.Many adults struggle with numeracy-related daily tasks, such as managing finances, understanding prescriptions, and navigating digital environments, often without realising the origin of these challenges. Meanwhile, policy makers and educational institutions lack sufficient frameworks to tackle low numeracy effectively.This project bridged these gaps through an integrated, evidence-based, European-wide approach that: -Raises awareness about numeracy’s importance.-Provides practical, real-world numeracy education.-Supports the institutionalisation of numeracy in lifelong learning.By developing and expanding numeracy provisions across Europe, this project addressed both policy-driven and learner-driven needs, ensuring a lasting impact<< Objectives >>With this project, we aimed to improve the quality of numerate behaviour among adults, enhancing their opportunities in the labour market, reducing social exclusion, and enabling full participation in society. Our primary objective was to reach more adults through numeracy courses, helping them navigate finances, health, digital tools, and other math-related aspects of daily life.To achieve this, we set the following specific goals:1. Raising Awareness – Highlighting the impact of low numeracy on employability and daily life.2. Expanding Numeracy Education – Increasing adult numeracy courses and learning materials.3. Strengthening Educators – Providing professional development for adult education staff.A key challenge is that many adults do not seek numeracy support, and policymakers often overlook the issue. Our approach embedded numeracy within lifelong learning policies, using the Common European Numeracy Framework (CENF) to ensure scalability and international alignment. Through dissemination efforts, including multiplier events and implementation activities, we aimed to institutionalise numeracy education, ensuring a lasting and sustainable impact beyond the project’s duration.<< Implementation >>In the Numeracy in Practice (NiP) project, several key activities were implemented to achieve the project's objectives of improving adult numeracy education. These activities were designed to enhance both the learners' numeracy skills and the competencies of educators in the field. Additionally, these activities were aimed at achieving our SMART-goals:-Improve outreach to the target group-Increase the number of individuals reached and supported-Increase the quantity of provisions (and budgets) by influencing policies-Improve the quantity and quality of provisions by strengthening staff through professional development and co-creating adequate learning and teaching materials-Produce white papers on What Works in Numeracy Education, based on research from the project activitiesThe main activities that were carried out and implemented with this project were:- Transnational Project Meeting (TPMs)Throughout the project, TPMs were organised to coordinate efforts, align goals and ensure the consistent implementation of tasks across partners. These meetings facilitated collaboration among partner organisations. - Learning, Teaching, and Training Activities (LTTAs)The LTTAs brought together all project partners to exchange knowledge and experiences, refine plans for Project Results, and discuss how to implement the Project Results (PRs). There were two International LTTAs and 16 local LTTAs organised by the project partners. The International LTTAs served as preparation for the series of follow-up local courses. The local courses in their turn were organised for staff members of partner organisations who are actively engaged in the development on numeracy provisions in their institute and/or actively engaged in teaching and disseminating numeracy courses. - Development of four Project Results (PRs)PR1: Information and Awareness Packages - Partners worked on creating information packages that focus on key aspects of numeracy, including awareness, finance, health, and media literacy. These packages were designed to raise awareness about the importance of numeracy and provide essential resources for educators.PR2: Teaching and Learning Materials -This PR involved researching, creating and refining teaching materials for adult numeracy courses. This included creating examples related to real-life situations like cooking and eating, designed for easy use in diverse classroom settings. PR3: Professional Development Materials - Under this PR, partners collected best practices and identified the professional development needs of educators in the field of adult numeracy. A comprehensive needs analysis was conducted to gather data from adult educators and trainers, which helped to identify areas for professional development. PR4: White Papers on Numeracy Education – Qualitative and quantitative research was carried out to understand what constitutes effective numeracy education. This included surveys conducted by each project partner and interviews with teachers. This research formed the foundation for the development of White Papers that provided evidence-based recommendations for improving adult numeracy teaching practices. - Multiplier Events (MEs)Both International and National MEs were organised by the different project partners. These MEs had the form of a 3 to 6-hour seminar or webinar (depending on circumstances) with an introduction, showing of results, showing of effects thus far, and a Q&A session. For the local multiplier events the focus was on increasing the number of high-quality numeracy provisions in the country itself and in countries who share the same home language. The focus of the International ME was to see whether the impact of the project can be improved by advocating the use of numeracy materials in numeracy provisions in partner countries and other countries or by influencing policies in other countries.- Project Management and Implementation (PMI)Activities under PMI include several Financial and Accountability Tasks such as 1) Setting up systems for monitoring and accountability with financial and narrative reports; 2) implementing a quality assurance system that includes monitoring, defining, and maintaining quality criteria, peer review, and a mid-term review; 3) holding TPMs (live and online) to track financial progress, PR-progress and accountability; 4) conducting a final evaluation and end-of-project review.Furthermore PMI activities included multiple Communication tasks. These tasks were 1) Establishing a digital information point for FAQs on the CENF/NiP website; 2) creating regular newsletters, blogs and Social Media posts; 3) writing articles on the EPALE website about the project; 4) setting up local and regional information points in the partners’ home languages.The final PMI activities dealt with the implementation tasks. These were 1) Informing national stakeholders across Europe, 2) conference presentations (at least four scientific or network events), 3) personal contacts and visits/lectures, and information sessions with professional development centres on the progress of Professional Development-materials; 4) using social media to continuously make the project and its results visible.<< Results >>The concrete outputs and other results of the Numeracy in Practice (NiP) project included a variety of resources, materials, and activities that were aligned with the project’s objectives of improving adult numeracy education. All relevant project outputs and results have also been published on the project website (cenf.eu) in more detail.The Project Results derived from the overall objective of the project and the project goals. The direct output consists of the tangible Project Results:PR1 Information and Awareness Packages: A focus group within PR1 was carried out with learners and practitioners on the topic of effective strategies for promotion and popularisation of numeracy. The focus group also provided thoughts and statements about the importance of numeracy in daily life. The object of this focus group was to discuss how to carry out the awareness campaign. Under this PR, multiple information and awareness materials were designed and created by the responsible consortium partners. This led to the development of six bookmarks, one flyer on numeracy, eight posters about numeracy awareness, three numeracy stickers, several guidelines to promote numeracy in adult education, a repository of resources for awareness, and 11 testimonies on different topics. The developed materials revolved around four domains (General Awareness, Finance, Health, and Critically use and interpret Media). In addition to these products, multiple meetings/webinars were held to spread information about the information and awareness packages. Some of these include: 1.A webinar for the launch of the Numeracy Report. Title: Adult leaners’ understanding and conceptualisation of numeracy in Ireland. 2.A national Radio Broadcast – Newstalk Breakfast. Topic: One in Four adults struggle with basic mathematics. PR2 Teaching and Learning Materials: The consortium partners under PR2 have developed a comprehensive collection of 80 teaching and learning materials focused on adult numeracy education. These 80 teaching and learning materials were organised under eight thematic umbrellas reflecting the everyday needs of adult learners. These eight umbrellas revolved around the following themes: 1) Enjoy eating and drinking, 2) Stay Safe and Healthy, 3) Save Time and Money, 4) Numeracy within my family, 5) Numeracy in working life, 6) Numeracy is part of my leisure time, 7) Enjoy travelling and mobility, 8) Be green with numeracy. The developed materials were translated into Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Slovenian, Spanish and Turkish versions. Not all 80 materials were translated into each language. However, each project partner translated the most context-specific and relevant materials for their own situation. PR3 Professional Development MaterialsBased on a needs analysis among the consortium partners and teachers, several professional development modules addressing ten different themes were developed. During the NiP-project, ten Development Modules were created along the following themes: 1) Numeracy and Math Anxiety, 2) Numeracy and Awareness, 3) Numeracy and Citizenship, 4) Numeracy and Synchronous Learning by use of Moodle, 5) Numeracy and Managing Situations, 6) Numeracy Health, 7) Numeracy and Critical Thinking, 8) Numeracy and Finance, 9) Numeracy and Using tools for Calculations, 10) Numeracy and Entrepreneurship.PR4 White Papers on Effective Numeracy EducationUnder PR4, a 'zero measurement benchmark' was conducted that described both quantitatively and qualitatively the state-of-play at the institutes in the project. Additionally, a systematic literature review was developed on adult numeracy education. This literature review focused on effective teaching strategies and successful international practices. Based on the literature review and the other Project Results, a total of four White Papers were created by the responsible project partners. The different themes of the White Papers were: 1) What is Numeracy? 2) Effective Numeracy Practices, 3) Challenges with Numeracy Teaching and Learning among Adults, 4) What is Adult Numeracy? These white papers provided evidence-based recommendations for improving adult numeracy education, which would be valuable for educators, policymakers, and stakeholders in the adult education field.These Project Results correspond with the Project Goals in the following way:-Improve the outreach to the target group: PR1-Increase the number of the target group reached and provided: PR1, PR2, PR3, PR4-Increase the quantity of provisions (and budgets) by influencing policies: PR1-Improve the quantity and quality of the provisions by strengthening the staff members of providers professional development: PR3-Teaching and learning materials: PR2-Research-based insights into successful numeracy education practices: PR4The Project Outcomes were:-An increase in numeracy courses organised and delivered during the project period with as consequence a bigger outreach to the target group.-An increase in the quality of the numeracy courses and an increasing strength of the expertise the staff of the institutes.-The most important outcome is the long-lasting effect of the activities and a sustainable increase in numeracy provisions and individuals reached and provided.