This dissertation explores the views and experiences of high school calculus teachers and college mathematics professors on the professional development which occurs at the annual national AP Calculus exam grading. This professional development experience comes in several forms: the exam briefing sessions, the actual reading of the exams, the…

We estimate racial/ethnic achievement gaps in several hundred metropolitan areas and several thousand school districts in the United States using the results of roughly 200 million standardized math and reading tests administered to public school students from 2009-2013. We show that achievement gaps vary substantially, ranging from nearly 0 in…

As hours per day are inherently a limited resource, increasing daily instruction time reduces the amount of time pupils can dedicate to other activities outside school. We study how the effect of longer school days on achievement varies across students and schools. We exploit a large-scale reform of school schedules that substantially increased…

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement's (IEA's) Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) can reveal a great deal about national teaching cultures and policies. Changes in instructional practices over more than a decade may be studied from a cross-cultural perspective. Using teacher and…

Spatial thinking skills positively relate to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) outcomes, but spatial training is largely absent in elementary school. Elementary school is a time when children develop foundational cognitive skills that will support STEM learning throughout their education. Spatial thinking should be considered a…

The "TIMSS 2019 Assessment Frameworks" provides the foundation for the four international assessments that comprise the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA's) TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) 2019: TIMSS Mathematics--Fourth Grade, TIMSS Mathematics--Eighth Grade, TIMSS…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only continuing and nationally representative measure of trends in academic achievement of U.S. elementary and secondary school students in various subjects. For more than four decades, NAEP assessments have been conducted periodically in reading, mathematics, science, writing, U.S.…

We report on a practitioner implementation of Fusion, a first grade mathematics intervention. Studies such as this evaluation of a loose implementation under realistic conditions are important to curriculum developers' understanding of how evidence-based programs and tools work under a variety of implementation scenarios. In this…

This paper presents a critical review of literature investigating assessment of mathematical modelling. Written tests, projects, hands-on tests, portfolio and contests are modes of modelling assessment identified in this study. The written tests found in the reviewed papers draw on an atomistic view on modelling competencies, whereas projects are…

Concept image is proposed by Vinner and Tall (1981) to differentiate the elements and relationships that a learner constructs about a concept from formal mathematical definition for the same concept. The answers of 119 University students to an examination question are analysed to establish the concept images they have for circle and ellipse. The…

This study examines the relationship between mathematics test anxiety and numerical anxiety on students' mathematics achievement. 140 pre-university students who studied at one of the institutes of higher learning were being investigated. Gender issue pertaining to mathematics anxieties was being addressed besides investigating the magnitude of…

The creation of an environment conducive to learning is vitally important in the academic achievement of learners. Such an environment extends beyond the classroom and school to include the home. It is from these environments that learners draw resources, both tangible and intangible, that impact on their educational experience. While current…

Existing research into students' preferences for assessment methods has been developed from a restricted sample: in particular, the voice of students in the 'hard-pure sciences' has rarely been heard. We conducted a mixed method study to explore mathematics students' preferences of assessment methods. In contrast to the message from the general…

Over the past two decades, mathematics education reformers have increasingly called for new approaches to assessment. This call urges mathematics teachers to merge their assessment with pedagogy, to employ assessments that engage students in the process of "doing mathematics," and to exploit assessment to support learning. This paper…

Psychologists believe that a student's motivation is influenced by a number of values/beliefs, interests and attitudes that can be positive or negative in their effects. Highly positively motivated students would believe that the task is of value (value beliefs), also with high expectations that they would achieve success (expectancy and…