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Why Numbers Count: Quantitative Literacy for Tomorrow's America. Lynn Arthur Steen, Ed. 194 pp. The College Board, 1997. $19.95 + tax + shipping and handling.

One of the most pressing issues in educational purpose today is that of what is usually referred to as quantitative literacy or numeracy. In Why Numbers Count: Quantitative Literacy for Tomorrow's America, the problem is addressed by 16 essayists, encompassing science writers, association scientists, and college faculty. Together they bring to this topic a fresh outlook, a new definition of the problem, and a number of suggestions and recommendations.

Quoting from editor Steen's preface, "Becoming literate, according to Iddo Gal, requires much more than knowing mathematics. It involves, among other things, a synthesis of literacy and numeracy that is rarely encouraged in school and a range of contexts from computation through decision making to interpretation. Too often, school mathematics stops with computation." (p. xxvi).

Steen also writes that "public policy issues may increasingly move beyond the intellectual grasp of citizens who lack appropriate skills in quantitative reasoning. As Gina Kolata argues here, innumeracy encourages the view that all opinions are equally valid, that whenever there is a disagreement the truth lies somewhere in the middle. . . By reinforcing the idea that truth is relative and unknowable, people with the least defenses against charlatans will be most vulnerable." (p. xxvi).

As stated by Gal, the term 'numeracy' is used to describe "an aggregation of skills, knowledge, beliefs, dispositions, habits of mind, communication capabilities, and problem-solving skills that people use to autonomously engage in and effectively manage situations in life and at work that involve numbers, quantitative and quantifiable information, or textual information that is based on or has embedded in it some mathematical element." (p. 39). The essayists in the present volume have addressed themselves to this notion in a variety of manners, not only in identifying the roots of the problem but with suggestions for better handling the quantitative aspect of the curriculum in our schools.

Certain commonalities important to practitioners can be drawn from the various essays:

1) As a part of mercantilism and government, numbers have grown to a primary level. People must cope with percentages, estimated life figures, lifetime rating calculations, per ounce costs, taxes, debts, and values on investments. All of this input information must be absorbed, processed, ordered, and made into sensible and usable data for normal living.

2) Numeracy is needed for scientific and quantitative reasoning to understand reports, facts in the paper, and medical claims. Much that is publicly reported is flawed, but numerically illiterate readers usually fail to detect such problems.

3) The schools must find the mathematics (the quantifiable) in every curricular area. Mathematical understanding is too important to be confined to the mathematics classroom. Mathematics is the great equalizer, because virtually everything in our lives today is treated in a numerical manner, e.g. measures, prices, warranties, insurance restrictions.

4) Numeracy and literacy must be a seamless combination. A numerically illiterate person is as handicapped in our society as one who cannot read.

5) Critical thinking requires questioning all the conditions in a situation, properly using logic, statistics and graphing, and dealing with uncertainty. Critical thinking and numeracy are interdependent because a sound understanding of quantity and numeracy is necessary for precision in thinking.

6) Instead of "Here's a problem, solve it," in real life it's "Here's a situation, think about it." Real-world problems are open-ended, with solutions that continually evolve to meet the needs of two masters--mathematics and the external situation.

7) Math education must provide skills that will be needed for at least 10 years after graduation. Graduates will need a pervasive skills basis for meeting the evolving mathematical demands during their professional and/or vocational lives.

8) Quantitative literacy is one of the defining skills that determines who will be successful and who will not. In terms of professional or vocational success, quantitative literacy is as important as language literacy.

9) Quantitative literacy is not the same as mathematical literacy. Quantitative literacy is part of all subjects and the responsibility of all teachers. Quantitative literacy deals with the most basic numerical needs of everyday life.

However stated in the various essays, the recommendations for the teaching of numeracy, or quantitative literacy, in the schools seem to center on these three:

• Quantitative literacy is every teacher's business. Mathematics must permeate the entire curriculum. The numeracy unique to each discipline must be taught in that discipline.
• Using the case study approach is critical. Students must set up, solve, interpret, and present solutions to open-ended problems. Theory and realistic practice must be merged.
• Mathematics should be studied in the context of broad career clusters. Organizing numeracy education around the broad domains of work can avoid the stifling effect of narrow application.

Why Numbers Count is both inspirational and expository in nature. The essays are designed to open educators' (all educators') eyes to the rightful breadth and appropriate pervasiveness of numerical literacy in our curriculum and in the real world. Further, using the various essays as springboards, workshops in specific instructional approaches could be developed. School improvement teams that are identifying target area goals in mathematics and/or quantitative literacy would find valuable background in this book.