Many tens of thousands of students in Australia struggle with Numeracy and Literacy during their middle years of schooling (ages 10-to-13 years). Current instructional activities do not appear to overcome the learning problems experienced by many of these students or lead to substantial improvements in their academic performance.

In order to address this situation, the National Centre for Science, Information and Communication Technology, and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR National Centre) has further developed and supported the growth of QuickSmart, an extensive research program aimed at narrowing the achievement gap between low-achieving students and their average-achieving peers. QuickSmart works by improving students' basic academic skills in literacy and numeracy.

New QuickSmart software available

The 2012 version of the OZCAAS software is now ready for download from the password protected QuickSmart Private Areas accessible from the links in at the bottom of the menu to the left. Please notice that the private areas have had a name change. What was the "CAAS Private Area" is now known as the "Numeracy Private Area". The "OZCAAS Private Area" is now known as the "Literacy Private Area".

All continuing QuickSmart schools should have passwords to access either the "Numeracy Private Area" or the "Literacy Private Area". These areas of the QuickSmart website contain the OZCAAS software, shared resources, electronic copies of QuickSmart materials etc. If there are any difficulties, please contact quicksmarthelp@une.edu.au or phone Gerard Todd or Dave Heap on (02) 6773 5061. (New schools are required to contact quicksmarthelp@une.edu.au to secure their passwords.)

As flagged in our last newsletter, all numeracy and literacy QuickSmart instructors and students will now use the 2012 OZCAAS assessment software which fits more closely with the QuickSmart approach. Literacy instructors have trialled this software since 2010. Numeracy Instructors will find that some of the extension assessments (e.g., 'negative numbers') from the previous US version of CAAS have been deleted and assessments such as 'maths language' and 'maths vocabulary' have been included.

We are very fortunate to again have Gerard and Dave available to provide technical support as required. Please do not hesitate to contact quicksmarthelp@une.edu.au or phone Gerard or Dave on (02) 6773 5061 if any difficulties arise.

Looking forward to working with you in 2012,
The QuickSmart Team