This book features a guide to teaching mathematics more effectively. Examining the different ways students acquire mathematical skills, it helps teachers develop flexible teaching methods that suit these varied ways of learning. Common areas of learning difficulty in mathematics and why students fail, ways for teachers to determine gaps in students' knowledge and how to develop curricula that address these gaps, and problem-solving strategies and skills as a means of improving numerical literacy are also discussed. The book draws extensively on research from the fields of developmental and cognitive psychology and is written in a style designed to appeal to the busy classroom teacher. Includes a section on recommended resources (texts, assessment and teaching resources, and useful journals) and an index. Appended are: students with Learning difficulties: selecting priority curriculum content; and The One Minute Basic Number Facts Tests (1995). (Contains approximately 220 references. (MM)