This guidance report focuses on improving the quality of teaching of mathematics to pupils in Key Stages 2 and 3. The decision to focus on these Key Stages was made after an initial consultation period with teachers, academics, and other stakeholders. Schools are seeking advice on adjusting to a new curriculum, and there is also concern about…

With the evolving technologies available to educators and the increased importance of including technologies in the classroom, it is critical for instructors to understand how to successfully utilize these emerging technologies within their curriculum. To ensure they are prepared, further study on the best practices and challenges of…

There is a growing consensus that teacher evaluation in the United States is fundamentally broken. Few would argue that a system that tells 98 percent of teachers they are "satisfactory" benefits anyone--including teachers. The nation's collective failure to invest in high-quality professional feedback to teachers is inconsistent with…

Research has long been clear that teachers matter more to student learning than any other in-school factor. Improving the quality of teaching is critical to student success. Yet only recently have many states and districts begun to take seriously the importance of evaluating teacher performance and providing teachers with the feedback they need to…

Illustrates how various types of evaluation such as diagnostic evaluation, formative evaluation, and summative evaluation can be used advantageously in mathematics classroom practice. (Contains 12 references.) (ASK)

Discusses new techniques and new approaches to gathering information about student learning. Describes a project entitled "Enhancing the Teacher's Role in Assessment" in which 36 teachers from 11 school districts learned about traditional and alternative assessment. (ASK)

Discusses the need for well-developed rubrics in mathematics education. Compares rubrics with partial credit, and describes different types of rubrics. Provides an example of a general rubric used for holistic scoring, and issues that arise when applying the rubric to student responses. Contains 16 references. (ASK)

Discusses the need for reform in teacher evaluation, current practice, implementing the Professional Teaching Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, and the relationship between teacher evaluation and constructivist views of learning. (MKR)

Provides information for constructing two-dimensional performance graphs for students to assess their competencies and to diagnose difficulties in the important area of problem solving. (ASK)

All teachers face the dilemma of trying to cater to the range of abilities of the children in their classes. Explains one teacher's attempt to accomplish this. (ASK)

This book is written to help teachers develop plans and ideas for implementing innovative approaches to assessment in their mathematics classes. Chapter titles are: (1) "Purposes and Goals of Assessment," (2) "Assessment and Mathematics Teaching," (3) "Procedural and Conceptual Knowledge," (4) "Problem Solving…

This bulletin focuses on three developments related to evaluation. First, the plans and initial work of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board, formed in 1985, are described. The Board's goals, its view of the major challenges in mathematics education facing the nation's schools, and its plans are discussed. The development of a design for…

Basic rules of test construction are detailed to provide teachers with ways to improve the validity and reliability of teacher-made tests and worksheets. Designing the test, writing the items, and scoring the test are each discussed. The critical need for good instruments is promoted. (MP)

This article addresses the use of curriculum-based measurement (CBM) techniques within regular education settings. Specific CBM decision-making strategies in the areas of mathematics operations are described. Successful application of these strategies in 40 elementary classes, each with at least 1 student with a learning disability, is also…

Discusses more effective uses of assessment techniques in mathematics classrooms. Presents some examples of powerful assessment techniques. (ASK)