Newman's Error Analysis' impact upon numeracy and literacy

Newman (1977, 1983) defined five specific reading skills as crucial to performance on mathematical word problems: reading, comprehension, transformation, process skills, and encoding. Newman's Error Analysis (NEA) provided a framework for considering the reasons that underlay the mfficulties students experienced with mathematical word problems and a process that assisted teachers to determine where misunderstandings occurred. NEA also provided directions for where teachers could target effective teaching strategies to overcome them. NEA has experienced a reawakening and has been included in a nwnber of programs such as the Counting On program in the Australian state of New South Wales. This paper will present findings of a pre-post test given to 1213 students participating in the Counting On program and will examine NEA as a diagnostic tool linking numeracy and literacy and will discuss how teachers have also used NEA as a remediation and general classroom pedagogical strategy for primary and secondary schools.