Professor Geek about dyscalculia

See the original HERE

National Numeracy Day

National Numeracy Day is a big thing in the UK.

We’re in the grip of a numeracy crisis. Around half of working-age people have the numeracy skills of a primary school child. Poor numeracy costs the UK economy up to £25 billion a year. It’s holding us back, and it needs to change.

Not getting on with numbers blights lives and livelihoods, contributing to pervasive problems from unemployment to poor health and debt. Low numeracy can be a lifelong barrier to social mobility.

The strongest predictor of a person’s numeracy skills in the UK is their socio-economic background. Improving skills, confidence and attitudes to numbers and maths makes a real difference to people’s lives by opening up educational, employment and financial opportunities that lead to brighter futures. 

National Numeracy is the UK’s only charity dedicated to everyday maths. We aim to boost social mobility and inclusion through numeracy in communities where the need is greatest.

Get all their resources HERE

Improving student attendance

Since the pandemic, chronic absenteeism has loomed large. Educators are seeking strategies and partners who can help tackle it. Well, getting kids back to school is one place where it’s long struck me that professional sports franchises could make a big difference. After all, professional athletes live daily with a show-up-early, work-hard routine. Indeed, of the teen and tween role models—like actors, social media influencers, and singers—athletes may be the ones with the most obvious ties to schools, colleges, and a grind-it-out ethos. The Cleveland Browns have spent a decade partnering with Ohio schools to improve attendance and launched the Stay in the Game! Attendance Network in 2019

Read all about this great program HERE

Hatcher developing tools to support people with Dyscalculia

For Hatcher, this project started as a little bit of an experiment to see how he could use computers to help increase accessibility. He fell upon dyscalculia because as a disability that affects people’s computational processes, it seemed like a natural fit. Since few resources exist to help people with dyscalculia, he also reasoned that a strong, well-designed tool would be of great help to an underserved population. 

“I didn’t know it existed until I stumbled upon it,” he said. “I’ve heard an estimate that it’s about 50 years behind dyslexia in terms of research and funding…It’s a real need that’s being overlooked in a large population. The existing data suggests that it’s about as common as dyslexia is.”

Read the full interview HERE

UK parliament getting serious about Dyscalculia

The House of Lords will discuss Dyscalculia on June 4th.

Dyscalculia is a specific learning difficulty that affects the understanding of number-based information. Schools in England are responsible for identifying any special educational needs (SEN) arising from such learning difficulties, and initial teacher training from September 2025 will contain more content related to supporting children with SEN. However, campaigners highlight there remains no specific requirement for teachers to learn about dyscalculia and argue awareness of the learning difficulty remains low.

Read what they will discuss HERE