The National Numeracy Network

Do you think high school or college graduates should be able to comprehend the quantitative material presented in a daily newspaper or news show on TV? Should they understand interest rates or be able to differentiate between the number of deaths last year and the death rate for the year? Should they be able to intelligently question the reported results of an opinion poll? If you think graduates should possess such skills, you are a supporter of numeracy (sometimes called quantitative literacy). And that implies that you should be aware of the National Numeracy Network.

"The National Numeracy Network (NNN) envisions a society in which all citizens possess the power and habit of mind to search out quantitative information, critique it, reflect upon it, and apply it in their public, personal and professional lives." This vision statement and much related material, as well as information on how to join, can be found at the NNN website www.math.dartmouth.edu/~nnn.

Check out the website to find, among other interesting items:

• The Center for Mathematics and Quantitative Education at Dartmouth, which houses the Electronic Bookshelf of resources for college teachers and the Little Bookshelf in the Big Woods of resources for K-12 teachers.
• The Show-Me Center, which provides information on, among other things, complete middle school curricula that emphasize data collection and analysis.
• Informative examples of quantitative reasoning in almost all disciplines.
• Descriptions of college-level quantitative literacy programs across the country.

If all this wonderful information is free, why join? Join because Network is the key word in the title of this organization of academic programs, professional societies, and individuals. An institutional member can add descriptions of its own interests and initiatives in quantitative literacy, with links to its materials and programs. Institutional or individual members can add to the materials already on the website, such as the bookshelves mentioned above. NNN ensures that your quantitative literacy efforts will have a national audience of interested parties. Most importantly, you will be supporting a national effort for quantitative reasoning across the curriculum - an essential component of participatory democracy and fulfilling employment in the information age.

The NNN is developing an electronic journal (Numeracy) and would like input from prospective readers to set policies and procedures for the journal. Please take a few minutes to compete a brief questionnaire on issues that will shape the journal. The questionnaire is found at www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=464933017288.

Thank you for your help in promoting numeracy as a worthy goal of school and college education.

Richard Scheaffer