Mismatch between gesture and speech was used to study cognitive processes that characterize the transition between incorrect, but rule-governed, problem understanding to correct rule-governed understanding among 90 fourth graders in Chicago (Illinois). Data support the idea that the transitional state is characterized by concurrent activation of…

A study examined 191 special educators' use of curriculum-based measurement as progress monitoring. Results showed 86 utilized curriculum-based measurement for at least one purpose. Curriculum-based measurement for progress monitoring in reading was utilized significantly more than in math or spelling. Teachers also indicated interest in…

Describes an activity in which students use metric measurements to find length and mass, calculate the towing strength of a bess beetle, and compare animal adaptations with human adaptations. (WRM)

Describes an interdisciplinary art activity that aims to improve students' mathematics vocabularies and their drawing and computer skills. Focuses on the painting style of Stuart Davis, whose artworks included words. Students create their artworks using the Painting Document of ClarisWorks. (CMK)

Investigated the proposition that the mathematics skills of first year entrants into the faculties of mathematics, engineering, science, and applied health sciences have declined at the University of Waterloo, Canada. Scores from diagnostic tests show a decline to the mid 1990s, but scores then level out. A survey completed by 52 faculty members…

Investigated the effects, on 7th graders' mathematical reasoning, of: cooperative learning embedded within multilevel metacognitive training (MMT), cooperative learning embedded within unilevel metacognitive training (UMT), and whole-class learning with no metacognitive training. Students exposed to MMT significantly outperformed students exposed…

Reports that school principles have endorsed grant-funded tutoring programs at their schools in which professional and pre-service teachers from Creighton University are the educators. States that the goal is to increase reading and mathematical skills in young children. Describes the process of enrollment and states that great improvements have…

Study examines whether children's achievement strategies predict their improvement in reading and mathematical skills during the first school year, or whether the skills predict the change in their achievement strategies. Results indicate that task-avoidant behaviors decreased subsequent improvement in reading skills, and that a low level of…

Highlights problems associated with pen-and-paper testing, recommending a computerized adaptive testing system which measures students' abilities against the levels of the United Kingdom National Curriculum in mathematics. The current prototype of this system can be used on a school's network. Results are issued at the time of testing, and…

Describes a teaching method that employs a variety of techniques--including psychology--to reduce math anxiety in basic skills math classes. States that when these types of efforts were made to reduce math anxiety, students received more satisfactory grades and fewer repeats and unsatisfactories. (NB)

Describes a consumer-math-skills project in which students make geometric shapes using pretzel sticks and gumdrops, then start a shop to sell them. This requires counting costs, pricing items, setting up shop, using money, making change, and understanding profits. Students reflect on the experience and write lists of the math they used to create…

The role of temperament was explored as a predictor of preschoolers' literacy and numeracy skills. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that temperament contributed uniquely to the explanation of literacy and numeracy skills over and above well-established indicators of a child's academic achievement such as parent education, gender, and…

This study identified cognitive processes that underlie individual differences in working memory (WM) and mathematical problem-solution accuracy in elementary school children at risk and not at risk for serious math difficulties (SMD). A battery of tests was administered that assessed problem solving, achievement, and cognitive processing in…

In this article, the author talks about the Westwood Elementary's knitting and crochet club. The idea for this group unraveled when one of their third graders received a knitting kit as a birthday gift. The mother of the student told the author what a wonderful hobby knitting had become for her daughter and how this craft worked to help develop…

Pattern work is now undertaken as early as kindergarten, and both researchers and teachers have discovered that children engage in pattern work with great enthusiasm and innate ability. Having some flexibility in pattern perception and selecting mathematically useful patterns require some training, although there is nothing particularly algebraic…