The purpose in this study was to illustrate the complexity of the focus on parent involvement as a strategy for enhancing school outcomes by empirically testing the predictive ability of three components of parent involvement on 12th graders' mathematics achievement by race and ethnicity. The authors used data from the NELS:88, which was based on…

In individual telephone interviews, 234 low-income African-American, Caucasian, and Latino parents rated the importance of helping their second- and third-grade children in reading, math, and homework and of knowing what their children are learning. Parents reported whether they had taught their child in math and reading and read with their child…

This paper reports on initial results from an ongoing evaluation study of a National Science Foundation project to implement reform-oriented teaching practices in college science and mathematics courses. The purpose of this study was to determine what elements of reform teaching are being utilized by college faculty members teaching undergraduate…

The Capital Area Technology and Inquiry in Education program (CATIE) is a content-focused, inquiry-based professional development program developed by the Center for Initiatives in Pre-College Education (CIPCE) to assist K-6 teachers in the technology integration process. To address concerns of sustain-ability and cost-effectiveness, this situated…

Anchored instruction is designed to present problems in a meaningful context to allow for investigations into real life environments. The Jasper Project was created to allow students to investigate mathematical dilemmas using anchored instruction techniques. This study uses case study methods to examine the perceptions that preservice teachers…

While researchers generally agree that literacy skills should be taught directly to adolescents across the curriculum, and that there are adequate research-based strategies for doing so, expets point out that much of that information has failed to reach the classroom, or has been ignored by teachers, who are either ill prepared or disinclined to…

Much of modern mathematical research requires a serious level of commitment and ability on the part of the researcher and, as a natural consequence, precludes any real involvement by undergraduate mathematicians. However, to put it crudely, Computer Algebra Systems, can make experts of us all. With the use of such systems even the average…

In this article, the author discusses his experiences tutoring high school students in math, and the discoveries he made about current mathematics education when he attempted to find the source of their problems. When confronted with a geometry student who did not know how to do proofs, the author began to investigate math textbooks, and found…

This article describes a geometry project that used the beauty of stained-glass-window designs to teach middle school students about geometric figures and concepts. Three honors prealgebra teachers and a middle school mathematics gifted intervention specialist created a geometry project that covered the curriculum and also assessed students'…

A classroom activity analyzes the mathematics found in Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, the true story of Ernest Shackleton and the 27-man crew who all survived a shipwreck at the South Pole. (Contains 3 figures.)

Many common objects can provide numerous opportunities for students to develop mathematical concepts and skills. The lesson described in this article provided an excellent opportunity for middle school students to discover how real-life situations do not always present obvious "right" answers. As students explored a question related to the…

This article describes a unit of instruction designed to promote a conceptual understanding of area in sixth-grade students. Students used benchmarks to estimate the areas of real houses and calculated the areas of houses based on building plans. (Contains 7 figures.)

A three-stage model for algebraic word problem solving is developed in which students' understanding of the intrinsic logical structure of word problems is strengthened by connecting real-life problems and formal mathematics. (Contains 3 figure.)

This article describes a series of mathematics activities based on the book "A Grain of Rice," which are designed to help students understand powers of 2. Ideas for activities in other disciplines are also provided. (Contains 3 tables.)

This article examines students' development of levels of understanding for measurement by describing the coordination of geometric reasoning with measurement and numerical strategies. In analyzing the reasoning and argumentation of 38 Grade 2 through Grade 10 students on linear measure tasks, we found support for the application and elaboration of…