I describe the motivation, structure, implementation, and student feedback of my mastery-based testing (MBT) system with a significant final exam component in Calculus I and II since 2016. Grades for each written assignment, quiz, and exam question were assigned on a Mastery/Progressing/Needs Improvement (M/P/NI) scale. Homework and quizzes could…

Two studies (Trautwein 2007 and Dettmers et al. 2010) show a positive correlation between high-quality homework and mathematics achievement. Students who completed their homework assignments scored better on assessments. However, these studies also showed no relationship between time spent on homework and resulting student achievement. This helped…

The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) incorporates challenging literacy standards into middle grades and high school content areas within a variety of academic disciplines, not just English/language arts courses. The Mathematics Design Collaborative (MDC) provides schools with instructional tools needed to help teachers understand and implement…

Many teachers of required secondary school mathematics classes are introducing statistics and probability topics traditionally relegated to college or AP Statistics courses. As a result, they need guidance in preparing lesson plans and orchestrating effective classroom discussions. In this article, the authors will describe the students' learning…

In the past several years, especially with the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, emphasis has been placed on connectivity among different academic subjects as well as between those subjects and the world. Simultaneously, there has been an increasing trend toward examination questions that are wordier and require more thinking and…

Linking assessment to everyday classroom instruction requires a shift in both thinking and practice. For many, the term "assessment" simply means "grade". "Using Classroom Assessment to Improve Student Learning" shows how teachers can move away from using tests, letter or numerical grades, or passing or failing as…

To help students meet higher standards, all academic and career/technical teachers need to be willing and prepared to use reading, writing and mathematics as tools for learning across the curriculum. To do so, they must have access to ongoing professional development, literacy and numeracy coaching, shared strategies, and teamwork to make literacy…

This newsletter of best practices in implementing the High Schools That Work (HSTW), Making Middle Grades Work (MMGW) and Technology Centers That Work (TCTW) school improvement models is based on presentations at the 27th Annual HSTW Staff Development Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the summer of 2013. The newsletter is divided up into…

Excel assignments were used as extra credit in an intermediate algebra course. Ninety percent of the students had a home computer and seventy per cent were familiar with Excel. There was not a significant linear correlation between the amount of Excel that the students performed and their achievement in algebra. One-third of the students did less…