This year the Center on Education Policy analyzed data on the achievement of different groups of students in two distinct ways. First, it looked at grade 4 test results to determine whether the performance of various groups improved at three achievement levels--basic and above, proficient and above, and advanced. Second, it looked at gaps between…

In this conference proceedings the overarching theme of research on teaching and learning mathematics in diverse settings and the subthemes of diversity, constructivism and algebra are achieved in the plenary papers. The plenary papers and authors include "Constructivist, Emergent, and Sociocultural Perspectives in the Context of Developmental…

This publication for adult basic education (ABE)/General Educational Development program (GED) instructors contains some ideas for altering attitudes about mathematics. It provides ideas for broadening ABE/GED mathematics curricula and finding more effective ways of bridging mathematics in the GED classroom with mathematics in postsecondary…

The goal of this paper is to renew interest in the structural option to algebra instruction. Concern for the usual secondary school algebra curriculum related to simplifying expressions, solving equations, and rationalizing numerators and denominators is viewed from three pedagogical approaches: (1) structural approach, (2) empirical approach, and…

The National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) is the only nationally representative and continuing assessment of what students in the United States know and can do in various academic subjects. The 1996 NAEP in mathematics assessed the current level of mathematical achievement as a mechanism for informing education reform. In 1996, 44…

This document ties the essential skills needed in mathematics to the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics' (NCTM) Curriculum and Evaluation Standards to help facilitate future curriculum development. The overall goal for the 21st century is to make mathematical power a reality for all students. The rationale for this document can be found…

The stated goal of Individual Computer-Assisted Instruction (ICAI) research is the development of computer software that combines much of the subject matter being studied, any particular student's learning schema, and the pedagogical knowledge of human tutors into a powerful one-to-one learning environment. This report describes the initial steps…

Graphing calculators have been used in the mathematics classroom for speed, to leap hurdles, to make connections among representations, and to permit realism through the use of authentic data. In this study, a graphing calculator tutorial provided on the Casio FX1.0 and FX2.0 PLUS models was found to serve a fifth purpose, improving manipulative…

Discrete mathematics, the mathematics of decision making for finite settings, is a topic of great interest in mathematics education at all levels. Attention is being focused on resolving the diversity of opinion concerning the exact nature of the subject, what content the curriculum should contain, who should study that material, and how that…

This handbook was developed as one of the objectives of a 3-year federally-funded model project to teach remedial mathematics to community college students with learning disabilities (LD). The underlying theme of this document is to provide a comprehensive plan to assist faculty, tutors, learning center personnel and others engaged in the effort…

Topological and algebraic scales were compared in the representation of the concept of human worth in behavioral-semantic terms. In a first experiment, seven doctoral students of Business Administration in Sweden explored the notion of worth using definitions from at least 10 dictionaries as the intentional-semantic content. Each subject served as…

In mathematics, Canadian students perform poorly, and enrollment in Canadian postsecondary institutions is low, particularly for women. Clearly, there is a need to understand the personal and social factors that influence mathematics achievement and academic choices. A. Bandura's self-efficacy theory (1977, 1982) implies that academic choices are…

Reasons for poor performance in mathematics by students in the United States are discussed. According to the authors, too many students never experience arithmetic at a physical, concrete level. Students are drilled in arithmetic facts without any meaningful context and are given few opportunities to use numerical concepts in real-life…

The "Test Development Notebook" is a resource designed for the preparation of tests of literal comprehension for students in grades 1 through 12. This volume contains 200 multiple-choice cloze exercises taken from textbooks in mathematics, and the accompanying answer key. Each exercise carries the code letter of the section to which it belongs.…

Developing the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007 Assessment Frameworks represents an extensive collaborative effort involving individuals and expert groups from more than 60 countries around the world. The document contains three frameworks for implementing TIMSS 2007--the Mathematics Framework, the Science…