eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The math achievement of third and fourth grade special education students has been identified as an area of concern within a public school located in a small rural town located on the east coast. The purpose of this action research study was to investigate whether or not the Touch Math strategy increased the math ability of third and fourth grade Special Education students. Using convenience sampling, third and fourth grade Special Education students were given a teacher made test , Test of Mathematical Ability 2nd Edition (TOMA-2), pre and post instruction, and observed before, after, and during instruction. This data was analyzed through the use of a t-test. Data was examined to determine whether or not students showed an increased score on both the teacher made test… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This study investigates how students and researchers shape their knowledge and perception of educational topics. The mindset or forma mentis of 159 Italian high school students and of 59 international researchers in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) are reconstructed through forma mentis networks, i.e., cognitive networks of concepts connected by free associations and enriched with sentiment labels. The layout of conceptual associations between positively/negatively/neutrally perceived concepts is informative on how people build their own mental constructs or beliefs about specific topics. Researchers displayed mixed positive/neutral mental representations of “teacher”, “student” and, “scientist”. Students’ conceptual associations of “scientist” were highly positive and largely non-stereotypical, although links about the “mad scientist” stereotype persisted. Students perceived “teacher” as a complex figure, associated with positive aspects like mentoring/knowledge transmission but… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Research has proven that teachers have a fundamental influence on student results. Moreover, effective teacher professional development is one of the key mechanisms for improving student achievement. By the most recent OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) definition, “Professional development is defined as activities that develop an individual’s skills, knowledge, expertise and other characteristics as a teacher.” The M@t.abel program suits this definition both in terms of increasing teacher subject knowledge and in terms of providing math teachers with alternative solutions and methods for presenting usual contents. Given that the effects of any professional development program on student achievement are mediated by teacher actual practices in the classroom, it is necessary to verify whether teachers enrolled in the M@t.abel program do follow the training, whether they… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This appendix provides the details that underlie the analyses reported in the evaluation brief, “After Two Years, Three Elementary Math Curricula Outperform a Fourth.” The details are organized in six sections: Study Curricula and Design (Section A), Data Collection (Section B), Construction of the Analysis File (Section C), Curriculum Effects on Student Math Achievement (Section D), Curriculum Implementation (Section E), and Effects of Switching Curricula (Section F). (Contains 19 footnotes, 35 tables, and 2 figures.) [For the full report, see ED544185.] Link til kilde
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Everyone knows that there is racial inequality in achievement returns from advanced math; however, they do not know why black students and white students taking the same level of math courses are not leaving with the same or comparable skill levels. To find out, the author examines variation in course coverage by the racial composition of the classroom. She hypothesizes that content coverage varies by classroom composition, because teachers respond to the needs and abilities of their students and make adjustments to teaching. More specifically, she asks: (1) Within advanced math courses with the same title, to what extent does content coverage breadth vary by classroom minority composition; (2) Within advanced math courses with the same title, to what extent does content coverage depth vary by classroom… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This brief aims to help educators understand the implications of math curriculum choice in the early elementary grades by presenting new findings from a study that examined how four math curricula affect students’ achievement across two years–from 1st through 2nd grades. The four curricula were (1) Investigations in Number, Data, and Space (Investigations); (2) Math Expressions; (3) Saxon Math (Saxon); and (4) Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics (SFAW), which the developer revised and renamed enVision Math (enVision) during the study. These curricula are widely used and differ in their approaches to teaching and learning. Within districts, we randomly assigned one of the four curricula to each school that participated in the study. After one year (by the end of 1st grade), students taught with Math Expressions and Saxon… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The 2013 study, “The Effectiveness of Secondary Math Teachers from Teach for America and the Teaching Fellows Programs,” examined whether students taught by teachers in the “Teach for America” (“TFA”) and “The New Teacher Project Teaching Fellows” (“Teaching Fellows”) programs had greater mathematics achievement than students taught by teachers who were not in either of these programs. The study was conducted in the 2009-10 and 2010-11 school years. Researchers found that “Teaching Fellows” teachers were no more effective at improving student mathematics achievement scores than comparison teachers. This study is well executed and meets What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) group design standards without reservations. A separate WWC single study review (see ED545118) provides information about the “TFA” intervention. Three appendices are included: (1) Study details; (2) Outcome measure… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: U.S. Federal and state education policies place considerable emphasis on assessing the effects that schools and teachers have on student test score performance. It is important for education policy makers to also consider other factors that can affect student achievement. This study finds that an exogenous school factor, discontinuous health insurance coverage, leads to a deficit in math achievement over time. A sample of Yuma County, Arizona public school students who experienced an illness or injury and whose health insurance coverage status was known were selected for inclusion into the study over five consecutive school years (1999-2003). The longitudinal math achievement trajectory of students who had private health insurance coverage was compared to students who had discontinuous coverage. Net of a student’s poverty status and other background… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: School gardening has become increasingly popular as a context for learning in which children construct new knowledge, learn cultural and societal values related to ecological awareness, and develop and practice authentic or real-world skills (Blair, 2009; Bowker & Tearle, 2007). The present research was a longitudinal case study of children’s gardening experiences at a Reggio-inspired preschool in the United States. Eleven children and their teacher were observed over nine days in various activities such as preparing the garden beds, planting, and harvesting. Through sustained participation in a variety of gardening activities, preschoolers engaged in science-rich dialogue utilizing complex and abstract science process skills such as observing, predicting, evaluating, and comparing. Discussion of number-related concepts, spatial orientation, and size estimation and comparison was also recurrent during gardening activities.… Continue Reading →
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eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The No Child Left Behind Act resulted in increased school-level implementation of assessment-based school interventions that aim to improve student performance. Diagnostic assessments are included among these interventions, designed to help teachers use evidence about student performance to modify and differentiate instruction and improve student outcomes. The mCLASS: Math software (Ginsburg, Cannon, Eisenband, & Pappas, 2006) is comprised of screening/progress monitoring curriculum-based measures (CBMs) and Diagnostic Interviews to help teachers identify students’ skill levels. mCLASS: Math enables teachers to target instruction to each student’s needs and monitor each student’s progress toward mastery. Educators are expected to use the constantly updated diagnostic information to improve ongoing instruction and increase student achievement. Schools have found that the use of mCLASS: Math helps support curriculum, instruction, and assessment (Ginsburg et… Continue Reading →
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