Data from three subtests (language, mathematics, and social) scales of the Head Start Measures Battery (HSMB) were analyzed using principal components analysis (PCA) and non-metric multidimensional scaling (MDS). The HSMB measures preschool development in language, mathematics, nature and science, perception, reading, and social development. The…

The problem of sex bias in mathematics word problems is discussed, with references to the appropriate literature. Word problems are assessed via cognitive science analysis of word problem solving. It has been suggested that five basic semantic relations are adequate to classify nearly all story problems, namely, change, combine, compare, vary, and…

Between 1980 and 1982, the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS) collected data on mathematics curricula, teaching practices, and achievement from samples of students, teachers, and schools in 18 countries. This material is a technical supplement describing the…

Through individual interviews with remedial and precalculus university students, five characteristics of the student were identified that influence whether a diagram is used in solving a problem and whether its use is successful. The interviews also suggested a set of subskills that contribute to the overall ability to draw effective diagrams.…

Results of the most recent administration of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) suggest that the majority of secondary students believe in the independence of random events. In the study reported here, a high percentage of high school and college students answered similar problems correctly. However, about half of the students…

The Lansing Community College (LCC) Math Lab offers two arithmetic and two developmental algebra courses and provides a placement and proficiency testing program for the mathematics department and for other selected departments in the college. Students who participate in Math Lab courses: (1) take a placement test and/or have a placement interview…

Undergraduates (n=99) differing in spatial ability were tested on problems involving the mental rotation of familiar alphanumeric stimuli and unfamiliar stimuli drawn from the Primary Mental Abilities Space Test. Individual differences in spatial ability were associated with speed rather than accuracy of mental rotation processes. Ability…

This paper examines the effects of teaching and learning strategies on mathematics achievement among eighth grade students in Malaysia using data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 1999. Factor analysis is used to separate the twenty-five teaching and learning practices into three main factors namely, instructional…

The author describes the structure, content, and standardization of the Stanford Mental Arithmetic Test (SMAT), which was developed at Stanford University from 1973 to 1975. (MN)

Covariance structure modeling by LISREL was used in an analysis of relations between intellectual ability, as measured by the Finnish version of the Illinois Test of Psycholinguistic Abilities (ITPA), and achievement in reading, writing, foreign language, and mathematics in longitudinal data on 234 Finnish school children. The validity of the ITPA…

The authors discuss the following questions: Who should run a GED (General Educational Development) program? How should the program be administered? How can schools best prepare their students to take the GED tests? (CT)

This study investigated the hypothesis that females who score high on the Mathematical portion of Scholastic Aptitude Test do so because they have high verbal skills, whereas some males score high on the mathematics despite their relatively low verbal skills. Evidence for and against the hypothesis was observed. (Author/JAZ)

Between 1980 and 1984 SAT scores rose 8 points for whites and 15 points for non-whites, but the overall mean increased only 7 points. This article explains that this is not an arithmetic error, but an example of a statistical phenomenon called Simpson's Paradox. It describes how to avoid it. (JAZ)

An important aspect of Ontario's participation in the Second International Study of Mathematics was a comparative analysis of students' mathematics achievement from 1968 to 1982. Achievement levels remained remarkably constant. The problem of declining achievement in the United States was not apparent in this analysis of Ontario students. (LMO)

A computerized adaptive testing procedure for measuring mathematical skills of 60 deaf college students was evaluated. Ability estimates were compared for stability to those obtained earlier from conventional testing. Adaptive testing increased measurement efficiency by reducing test length. Student attitudes toward computerized testing were…