Discusses the problems of using chronometric analysis, a common cognitive psychological method, for educational assessment. Suggests that cognitive assessment has not reached the precision needed to analyze individual differences. (FMW)

On-the-job experience is commonly regarded as the prime prerequisite for proficiency. This paper presents findings of a study that compared the ways in which a group of practicing elementary principals (n=31) and aspiring principals (n=25) thought their way through a case study. The study was conducted as part of the Cognitive Approaches to School…

Developmental differences in reasoning ability and item processing demands are analyzed in a study of cognitive determinants of number analogy performance in two IQ levels of elementary school children and college students. The amount of solution-related information in working memory was the crucial processing demand. Process differentiations of…

Offers five suggestions to help students assess the reasonableness of their answers: (1) giving students a variety of problems; (2) facilitating students' discussions and interpretations of the problem conditions; (3) encouraging students to estimate answers before carrying out calculations; (4) encouraging students to ask whether their answers…

Open-ended individually administered questions can ascertain whether students can reason about arithmetic problems. Free response test items are useful in assessing students' thought processes as they solve mathematics story problems. Since story problems do not state explicitly which arithmetic operations are required for solution, students must…

The Cognitive Approaches to School Leadership (CASL) Project builds on cognitive-science theories of how people think about problems, with special reference to related studies of administrative practice in general and educational administration in particular. This paper is the second of two papers that reports findings from clinical studies of…

This document notes that arithmetic disabilities can occur with an otherwise normal intelligence level. Two models of explanation are given. The first emphasizes the conditions under which children learn mathematics, the second views the identification of a number of factors in the "structure of intelligence" that appear to be strongly…

During the 1989-90 school year, the Barrett Math Program was piloted in selected sections of grades K-7 in five Atlanta (Georgia) Public Schools (APS) elementary schools. The Barrett Math Program is designed to improve the total mathematical skills of elementary school students, including computation, concepts, and problem solving, as measured by…

This report covers Phase II of a two-phase project concerned with the development of new measures of cognitive variables in elementary school children. The four tasks undertaken in Phase II were: (1) prepare, revise and describe instruments designed to measure the cognitive variables categorized as concept formation, language development, logical…

Interpersonal Process Recall (IPR) is a technique in which audiotapes are used to evoke students' memories concerning their own thinking. Reports a study using IPR to probe elementary students' (n=17) thinking during a problem-solving situation. Concluded that IPR has potential in classroom research. (MDH)

Presents results of 46 randomly selected children's performance measurement and partitive division problems when remainders are zero, nonzero but not used in the solution, and nonzero and used in the solution. Results indicate that children demonstrate an understanding of division prior to formal instruction. (MDH)

Presents a study of 87 second graders to demonstrate that achievement tests in primary mathematics emphasize pupil's lower-order thinking by comparing answers to interview questions from constructivist and traditionally instructed groups. Results indicated that constructivist instructed students demonstrated superior higher-order thinking on tasks…

Compared project (n=79) and nonproject (n=111) third-grade students on their conceptual development in arithmetic, their personal goals in mathematics, and their beliefs about reasons for success in mathematics. Project students attained more advanced levels of conceptual understanding and held stronger beliefs about the importance of working…