Developing Number Knowledge

Dr Robert J. (Bob) Wright holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in mathematics from the University of Queensland (Australia) and a doctoral degree in mathematics education from the University of Georgia. He is an adjunct professor in mathematics education at Southern Cross University in New South Wales. Bob is an inter­nationally recognized leader in assessment and instruction relating to children’s early arithmetical knowledge and strategies, publishing six books, and many articles and papers in this field. His work over the last 25 years has included the development of the Mathematics Recovery Program, which focuses on providing specialist training for teachers to advance the numeracy levels of young children assessed as low-attainers. In Australia and New Zealand, Ireland, the UK, the USA, Canada, Mexico, South Africa and elsewhere, this programme has been implemented widely, and applied extensively to classroom teaching and to average and able learners as well as low-attainers. Bob has conducted several research projects funded by the Australian Research Council including the most recent project focusing on assessment and intervention in the early arithmetical learning of low-attaining 8- to 10-year-olds.

Dr. Pamela D. Tabor holds a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education and Bible from Kentucky Christian University, a Master of Arts degree in elementary education from East Tennessee State University, and a Doctor of Philosophy in mathematics education from Southern Cross University. Her supervisor was Robert J. Wright, the developer of Mathematics Recovery. She has recently worked as Research and Evaluation Specialist for the US Math Recovery Council in which she has had the pleasure of working with instructional leaders from districts around the US and internationally to think deeply about the impact of Math Recovery in their school contexts. Previously, she spent nearly two decades as a school-based math specialist, interventionist and instructional coach. In that capacity she worked with administrators, teachers of mathematics, teachers of special education, students, and parents to improve the quality of mathematics instruction in a public elementary school in Maryland. She is also a coauthor of the Math Recovery series book Developing Number Knowledge, a contributor of Teaching Number in the Classroom with 4—8 year Olds, one of the original developers of USMRC’s Add+VantageMR Professional Development Courses, and one of the developers of USMRC’s Student Numeracy Assessment Progressions (SNAP).