Even in today's mathematics classroom, where teachers often focus primarily on mastery of underlying concepts, students struggle to commit the multiplication table to memory. Facility in multiplication involves both an understanding of the concepts and memorization of the facts. Successful memorization of the one hundred basic multiplication facts…

An assessment tool was designed and implemented to increase consistent application among and between multiple raters assessing students in driver education. The targeted population was students in grades 9 through 12 enrolled in drive education at a high school in an affluent suburb near a large city. The problem of a lack of a consistent…

The purpose of this study was to provide statistical evidence to demonstrate that peer collaboration on math homework increases academic performance in math. This study examined the benefits of peer collaboration on two unit tests on multiplication. It compared the results of students who worked collaboratively on homework and those who did not.…

This paper reports on the processes and results of a project on the instruction and practices of mathematics problem solving and strategies. Students in the second, third, and fifth grades were targeted to increase achievement in the area of math problem solving. Problem solving achievement was measured using performance tasks, rubrics, and tests…

This research project focuses on the problem of the inappropriate assessment of primary grade students. The targeted group was first graders in a suburban elementary school. While taking tests, students revealed a low performance in comparison with their daily performance. They also exhibited frustration and a high stress level. Current research…

This report describes a program that was implemented to improve student assessment through the use of portfolios. The targeted population consisted of a first and third grade classroom in a suburb of a large Midwestern metropolitan area. The problems related to assessment were documented by state mandated test scores, teacher determined grades,…

This report describes a project for improving students' listening and motivation. The action research took place from September 2001 through January 2002. The targeted first grade reading and eighth grade physical education students live in rural, Midwestern, middle- to high-income communities located in central Illinois. The problem was that…

From the late 1950s through today, hands-on science has been promoted as a method of science instruction. Currently, recent national science reform efforts seek to temper its role. However, no consensus has been reached on the relationship of hands-on science to student achievement, though this has been researched since the turn of the 20th…

This action research project evaluated a program for improving motor skills in kindergartners by incorporating into the core curriculum motor activities, new materials focused on motor skills, and authentic assessments of motor skills. Teacher observations, scores from the DIAL-R (Developmental Indicators for the Assessment of Learning-Revised)…

A study was designed to assist elementary music teachers to create and/or improve methods of assessment for fifth-grade beginning band students. It was conducted from August to December 2002 and included 13 volunteer participants from a rapidly growing student population at an Illinois elementary school. As part of the research process, surveys,…

This report describes a plan for using student portfolios as a tool for authentic assessment. The targeted population was classes of 5th, 8th, and 12th graders in 3 urban school settings. The three teachers involved felt that current assessment methods were inadequate for measuring student learning. Analysis of the data showed that current…

This paper describes a plan for assessing academic and social growth of special education students. The targeted population consisted of six elementary students with hearing impairments and seven high school students with mental impairments. The problems of assessing special education students were documented through data collected from teacher…

This action research project evaluated a program to improve student motivation. The targeted population consisted of sixth- and eleventh-grade students in grammar/literature, physical education, and social studies classes in suburban Chicago. Three interventions were selected: incorporation of multiple intelligence strategies, implementation of…

This paper describes an approach for expanding assessment opportunities for students to demonstrate their understanding of content. The targeted population consisted of elementary and junior high school students in two schools in a growing middle-class community in north central Illinois. The elementary school enrolled 467 students and the junior…

This action research project developed and implemented a program to improve student motivation through use of multiple intelligences, authentic assessment, technology and positive teacher feedback to increase levels of student music achievement. The students of the targeted seventh grade music class exhibited low levels of motivation that hindered…