The Kansas Minimum Competency Testing Program is designed to provide the public, the Kansas State Board of Education, and the Kansas legislature with descriptive profiles of student performance relative to minimum competencies in reading and mathematics. Results of the 1982-83 assessment are presented in this report. Included are overall test…

Examination of 99 mathematics teachers' ratings of item difficulty indicated that the ratings were influenced by the teachers' attitudes and characteristics and their interpretation of the skills measured by the items. Teachers who rated items as relatively easy tended to favor tougher standards, grade students in relation to other students, and…

Reports on a study into the problem solving abilities of students in a Jamaican high school who were intentionally taught problem solving strategies during one-sixth of their mathematics instruction for one academic year. Results indicated no significant increases in their performance on a problem solving test. (TW)

Describes a study designed to investigate the relationship between students' learning of the standard double-digit addition algorithm and basic fact mastery or numeration concepts. Results suggest basic fact mastery and knowledge of numeration concepts may not be as necessary as previously assumed to learning multidigit addition. (PK)

During the first 12 weeks of an applied calculus course, two classes of college students studied calculus concepts using graphical and symbol-manipulation computer programs to perform routine manipulations. Three weeks were spent on skill development. Students showed better understanding of concepts and performed almost as well on routine skills.…

With the help of funding from the Amoco Foundation, the University of Chicago has developed the Chicago School Mathematics Program, aimed at motivating seventh- to tenth-grade middle-ability students in mathematics. Outlines the curriculum development process and describes the motivation for the major features of the curriculum. Includes three…

Develops a classification scheme for mathematical problem-solving activities. Presents problems generated in solid and plane geometry and fractions. (JM)

A test score can be used for individual instructional diagnosis after determining whether: (1) difficulty of the test items was consistent with the complexity of the content measured; (2) items measuring the same underlying process were about equally difficult; and (3) partial credit scoring would increase the reliability of the diagnosis. (LMO)

Investigates how 104 tenth graders' fluent use of a basic numerical skill is related to their perceptions of confidence on a task of quantitative estimation. Results showed that counting skill was related not only to accuracy in estimating but also to the appropriateness of subjects' confidence. (Author/CI)

Describes a full-year course called Applied Mathematics. The course covers topics in two general categories, namely, personal money management and job-related mathematics. General instructional strategies used and a sample student project (on budgets) are included. (JN)

Patterns and directions are given for making bulletin boards that teach language arts and mathematics skills through hands-on student involvement. The boards help teach multiplication tables, word contractions, letter sounds, homonyms, compound words, alphabetization, and other skills. (PP)

This report deals with 7th grade pupils' conceptions of mathematics, its learning and teaching. The report focuses on the identification and comparison of views expressed by pupil groups of different mathematical ability and achievement. The analysis is based on the results of the ability tests, subject tests and a questionnaire conducted among…

We outline a framework for investigating how a mathematics textbook positions the mathematics learner. We use tools and concepts from discourse analysis, a field of linguistic scholarship, to illustrate the ways in which a textbook can position people in relation to mathematics and how the text can position the mathematics learner in relation to…

This publication is designed to assist administrators, teachers, parents, and students in making decisions regarding participation and testing accommodations for special populations in statewide testing in Washington. The intent of Washington's Education Reform Act of 1993 is to increase student achievement by developing a public school system…

The case study presented in this report was part of assessing a teaching proposal on ratio and proportion. A group of sixth-grade students of elementary education in Mexico participated in the implementation of the proposal. The girl of the case study was representative of those students in the group who had a lot of recourse to handling…