President Bush appointed a 19-member National Mathematics Advisory Panel (NMP) in 2006 to create a blueprint for advancing mathematics education in the United States. After reviewing over 16,000 research publications and reports and receiving testimonials from 110 individuals, the panel made its report public in March 2008. The NMP report provides…

A general method is presented for evaluating the sums of "m"th powers of the integers that can, and that cannot, be represented in the two-element Frobenius problem. Generating functions are introduced and used for that purpose. Explicit formulas for the desired sums are obtained and specific examples are discussed.

Groups that created more correct ideas (correct contributions or CCs) might be more likely to solve a problem, and students' recent actions (micro-time context) might aid CC creation. 80 high school students worked in groups of 4 on an algebra problem. Groups with higher mathematics grades or more CCs were more likely to solve the problem. Dynamic…

In algebra and precalculus courses, students are often asked to find extreme values of polynomial functions in the context of solving an applied problem; but without the notion of derivative, something is lost. Either the functions are reduced to quadratics, since students know the formula for the vertex of a parabola, or solutions are…

It is important for teacher educators to understand new alternative certification middle and high school teachers' mathematical problem solving abilities and perceptions. Teachers in an alternative certification program in New York were enrolled in a proof-based algebra course. At the beginning and end of a semester participants were given a…

This study explores the differences between traditional and alternate route certification by focusing on the achievement of students who have been instructed by teachers from each program. In addition, this study identifies the strengths and weaknesses of teachers from each certification route through surveys and interviews with principals in the…

We conducted an evaluation study of the Middle School Algebra Readiness Initiative, a middle school mathematics intervention that was implemented in two West Virginia school districts during the 2011-2012 school year. In participating middle schools, the Carnegie Learning MATHia® software intervention and accompanying classroom curriculum were…

This study examined whether or not embodied-agent-based learning would help middle-grade females have more positive mathematics learning experiences. The study used an explanatory mixed methods research design. First, a classroom-based experiment was conducted with one hundred twenty 9th graders learning introductory algebra (53% male and 47%…

The research literature concerning traditionally aged college mathematics students' who require remediation, in beginning Algebra topics, states that these students lack confidence in their mathematical skills, have experienced failure and frustration in the past, have low self confidence issues with respect to mathematics and often lack…

In 2010, homeschooling was increasing in prevalence in the United States. Yet, little was known about the academic achievement of these students as they matriculated into colleges and universities. The purpose of this mixed methods sequential explanatory study was to examine the academic success achieved by the homeschooled population (N = 273)…

Visit with any university math faculty member throughout the United States, and you will soon hear how the freshman students are not prepared to be successful in introductory college algebra classes. The opinions are varied regarding why the students are unsuccessful; however, the concern and frustration is universal. According to American College…

Fifty percent of college-bound students graduate from high school underprepared for mathematics at the post-secondary level. As a result, thirty-five percent of college students take developmental mathematics courses. What is even more shocking is the high failure rate (ranging from 35 to 42 percent) of students enrolled in developmental…

Reform in mathematics instruction at the college level has been slow to arrive (Dossey, Halvorson, & McCrone, 2008), and many institutions of higher learning still follow the calculus model, while fewer and fewer students need calculus for their chosen areas of study (Ganter & Barker, 2003). Instead, mathematics that is applicable and transferable…

Only recently have school districts across the nation begun to offer Algebra I to all eighth grade students. Currently, most eighth grade Algebra I curriculum does not have a national consistent focus of topics or level of rigor. A key issue of implementing Algebra I in eighth grade is defining national Algebra I concepts and skills that students…

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that adapt to an individual student's needs have shown significant improvement in achievement over non-adaptive instruction (Murray 1999). This improvement occurs due to the individualized instruction and feedback that an ITS provides. In order to achieve the benefits that ITSs provide, we must find a way to…