Recent state legislation in Michigan mandates that all graduating seniors successfully pass algebra I and II. Numerous initiatives have been enacted to help mathematics teachers meet this challenge, yet school principals have had little preparation for the necessary curricular and instructional changes. To address this unmet need, university-based…

Teaching is a complex profession, and although every context is unique, teachers face common challenges. The authors have identified two challenges that nearly every teacher encounters: (1) managing a classroom of students; and (2) addressing the needs of individual students. Although these are not teachers' only challenges, the authors highlight…

This retrospective study examined the impact of prior mathematics achievement on the relationship between high school mathematics curricula and student postsecondary mathematics performance. The sample (N = 4,144 from 266 high schools) was partitioned into 3 strata by ACT mathematics scores. Students completing 3 or more years of a commercially…

Seventy secondary mathematics pre-service teachers from two universities were assessed on their content knowledge, vocabulary knowledge, and their perceived confidence in teaching the content addressed on the eleventh grade state assessment. The results indicate the pre-service teachers had significant content weakness in data analysis, algebra,…

While teaching in New York City public schools, the author began planning collaboratively with a team of mathematics teachers. Collaborative planning enabled them to consider a range of issues that may not have emerged had they been planning independently. In this article, the author first describes their work through excerpts of conversations…

Recent research indicates that the methodology for teaching English language learners (ELLs) is unique. One approach most commonly used to teach this group in the United States is referred to as sheltered instruction. With Sheltered English Immersion (SEI), middle school teachers simultaneously teach content and language skills. The author will…

In the Dutch secondary education system, students must carry out at the end of their school career a research or design project to demonstrate their ability to apply acquired knowledge and skills while pursuing a rather large research question or design goal in some depth. They are encouraged to choose the topic themselves and they are to some…

This article reports on a study into the integration of ICT for students' personal use in the secondary mathematics classroom through using small software applications on handheld computing devices (graphical calculators). The handhelds were networked through wireless hubs so that data, software and output can be shared and an interactive space…

Statistics is the art and science of gathering, analyzing, and making conclusions from data. However, many people do not fully understand how to interpret statistical results and conclusions. Placing students in a collaborative environment involving project-based learning may enable them to overcome misconceptions of probability and enhance the…

This study aims to determine the attitudes of prospective teachers of Secondary Mathematics Education toward Instructional Technologies and Material Development (ITMD) Course. The participants of this descriptive research include 44 students, who take ITMD Course at Department of Secondary Mathematics at Necatibey Faculty of Education in Balikesir…

In this article, the author describes a method of teaching he used with his Year 7 mathematics class. With this method, the author learned an important lesson that has positively affected his willingness to persevere with other ideas that do not immediately "click" in all aspects of teaching.

The key to understanding the development of student misconceptions is to ask students to explain their thinking. Time constraints of classroom teaching make it difficult to consult with each and every individual student about their thought processes. However, when a particular error keeps surfacing, simply marking the response as incorrect will…

Reasoning about and making sense of statistics and probability are essential to students' future success. This volume belongs to a series that supports National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM's) "Focus in High School Mathematics: Reasoning and Sense Making" by providing additional guidance for making reasoning and sense making part of…

Recent research has suggested that differences between intelligent tutor lessons predict a large amount of the variance in the prevalence of gaming the system. Within this paper, we investigate whether such differences also predict how much students choose to go off-task, and if so, which differences predict how much off-task behavior will occur.…

This article describes an activity that introduces the Lithuanian holiday tradition of decorating with straw ornaments in geometric shapes. By building a Lithuanian sunburst star with straws, students explore a number of geometric relationships and reinforce their mathematical vocabulary. It also provides an excellent foundation for a…