Fractions are known to be difficult to learn and difficult to teach, yet they are vital for students to have access to further mathematical concepts. This article uses evidence to support teachers employing teaching methods that focus on the conceptual understanding of the magnitude of fractions.

We report on progress towards the development of an Action Concept Inventory (ACI), a test that measures student understanding of action principles in introductory mechanics and optics. The ACI also covers key concepts of many-paths quantum mechanics, from which classical action physics arises. We used a multistage iterative development cycle for…

The purpose of this theoretical study is to explore the relationships between the concepts of using mathematics in the daily life, mathematical applications, mathematical modelling, and mathematical literacy. As these concepts are generally taken as independent concepts in the related literature, they are confused with each other and it becomes…

This chapter addresses assessment (testing) with an emphasis on the 100-year period since the American Education Research Association was formed. The authors start with definitions and explanations of contemporary tests. They then look backward into the 19th century to significant work by Horace Mann and Herbert Spencer, who engendered two…

At the special conference celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT), the author was asked to speak about the challenges and opportunities in teaching mathematics as a stimulus for discussion of AAMT's "future directions". With an open invitation to be a little provocative, the author…

The aim of this study is to determine reading comprehension levels of fifth-grade elementary school students who learned to read and write for the first time with sound-based sentence method. The 2005 program changed the initial literacy learning method. Sentence method was replaced by sound-based sentence method in the initial literacy education.…

Against the background of the Deweyan tradition of "Democracy and Education," we discuss problems of complexity and reductionism in education and educational philosophy. First, we investigate some of Dewey's own criticisms of reductionist tendencies in the educational traditions, theories, and practices of his time. Secondly, we explore…

Informal learning contexts may provide opportunities for adding capital to young children in their years prior to schooling. This paper explores the potential of the early-years swim context to add capital to young children that may position them favourably for the transition to school. Using Bourdieu's notion of capital, the paper discusses the…

The purpose of the current study was to determine relationships between orthographic and morphological awareness of academic words and achievement across content areas. Participants (n = 256), diverse seventh and eighth graders, took three word knowledge measures; two standardized achievement measures were used as outcomes. Orthographic awareness…

A limited vocabulary is a substantial obstacle to success in reading comprehension (Graves, 2004). A morphemic approach to vocabulary instruction may be an effective method for increasing student outcomes in both word knowledge and reading comprehension (Kuo & Anderson, 2006; Reed, 2008). The purpose of this research was to examine the effects…

Cognitive diagnosis models (CDMs) are psychometric models developed mainly to assess examinees' specific strengths and weaknesses in a set of skills or attributes within a domain. By adopting the Generalized-DINA model framework, the recently developed general modeling framework, we attempted to retrofit the PISA reading assessments, a…

Advanced Placement (AP) Human Geography faced a number of hurdles that nearly derailed the course before it launched in 2000-2001. A dedicated cadre of geography professionals and high school teachers rose to the challenge and the course remains one of the fastest growing AP courses currently offered by College Board. Seventeen readers and leaders…

Independent Reading (IR) is a reading intervention that many schools implement to help students develop essential reading skills and improve academic achievement on various standardized assessments. However, recent IR studies have yielded mixed findings on the effectiveness of IR as a reading intervention to help struggling students increase…

The Civics Education Initiative is a project of the Joe Foss Institute, an organization dedicated to shaping "young Americans for civic engagement as voters and informed members of their community." The initiative, which launched in 2015, has three goals: (1) To ensure students graduate with the tools they need to become informed and…

For each school level, figures indicate the school's overall performance across multiple indicators, along with the instructional services provide to students. Additionally, data demonstrate the performance of student groups in 2014-2015.