Although research on the effectiveness of differentiated and enriched instruction in improving the achievement of diverse students is still emerging, some studies suggest that students in academically diverse classrooms benefited academically from differentiated learning experiences. The primary research question explored in this study was…

Despite the potential of differentiated curricula to enhance learning, limited research exists that documents their impact on Grade 3 students of all ability levels. To determine if there was a difference in achievement between students involved in 16 weeks of predifferentiated, enriched mathematics curricula and students using their district's…

The purpose of this study was to explore the utility of a dynamic assessment (DA) of algebraic learning in predicting third graders' development of mathematics word-problem difficulty. In the fall, 122 third-grade students were assessed on a test of math word-problem skill and DA of algebraic learning. In the spring, they were assessed on…

Elementary school students often misinterpret the equal sign (=) as an operational rather than a relational symbol. Such misunderstanding is problematic because solving equations with missing numbers may be important for the development of higher order mathematics skills, including solving word problems. Research indicates equal-sign instruction…

Two mathematics curricula ("Distar Arithmetic" and "Scott Foresman Mathematics" and two arithmetic tests ("KeyMath" and the "Iowa Tests of Basic Skills" for grades one-three were examined for correspondence of content and types of learning required. A consistent lack of content correspondence was found among…

To help teachers in comparing the content of their instruction with the content of standardized tests, a taxonomy of elementary school mathematics was developed. The taxonomy consisted of matrix with three dimensions; (1) mode of presentation (how questions are asked); (2) nature of material (type of numbers or mathematical terms); and (3)…

The Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District Chapter I Mathematics Program served 1,110 students in grades 2-8. Chapter I Math students in grades two through six achieved gains on the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills from pre to posttesting. Scores on these tests are reported using a metric known as the Normal Curve Equivalent (NCE). The…

This report describes an evaluation of the Chapter 1 Mathematics Program for 1,008 students in grades 1 through 8 in the Des Moines (Iowa) Independent Community School District. Four comments summarize results of the evaluation: students in grades 2-8 surpassed the criterion for gains in the total mathematics score on the Iowa Tests of Basic…

Low scores on the Iowa Test of Basic Skills Mathematics Sub-Test went up considerably among students who made daily use of Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) at the Log Cabin Elementary School in Jackson County, North Carolina. Students who were in the lower 45% of a class in mathematics achievement were scheduled for daily ten-minute exposure to…