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Eric.ed.gov – Assessing Academic Rigor in Mathematics Instruction: The Development of the Instructional Quality Assessment Toolkit. CSE Technical Report 672

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The development of an assessment tool to measure the quality of instruction is necessary to provide an informative accountability system in education. Such a tool should be capable of characterizing the quality of teaching and learning that occurs in actual classrooms, schools, or districts. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of the Academic Rigor in Mathematics (AR-Math) rubrics of the Instructional Quality Assessment Toolkit and to share the findings from a small pilot study conducted in the Spring of 2003. The study described in this paper examined the instructional quality of mathematics programs in elementary classrooms in two urban school districts. The study assessed the reliability of the AR-Math rubrics, the ability of the AR-Math rubrics to distinguish important difference between districts, the… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Gender Equity in High School Math: A Study of Female Participation and Achievement.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: This survey of 316 Precalculus, Calculus AB, and Calculus BC students from markedly different socioeconomic levels in four district high schools in San Antonio, Texas, looked at factors that have traditionally caused women to avoid mathematics, and attempted to discover which of them continue to influence women’s decisions to reject the discipline. The questionnaire contained 25 questions based on assumptions drawn from literature on the subject. Reported and discussed are all differences in gender opinion above 9 percentage points, even though a difference of 11.4 percentage points would begin to indicate a statistically significant result. Findings where such differences occur showed that: (1) mathematics enrollment favored men, especially in BC Calculus; (2) female respondents more frequently perceived no bias in teacher expectations; (3) female students less frequently… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – How Negative Expectancies and Attitudes Undermine Females’ Math Confidence and Performance: A Review of the Literature.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Females’ underperformance in mathematics is discussed as a function of negative expectancies by parents, teachers, and peers. These negative expectancies of significant others lead to negative self-expectancies and negative attitudes about mathematics on the part of female students. These negative expectancies and attitudes lead to lower performance, reinforcing parents’ and teachers’ negative expectancies. Thus a cycle of low expectancies leading to low performance leading to even lower expectancies is perpetuated. Some reasons this cycle persists are: (1) girls, more than boys, tend to believe that mathematical ability is something individuals either have or do not have; (2) girls are more math anxious than boys; (3) girls may believe that “girls just cannot do math”; (4) girls’ belief that their ability is so low that no amount of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – The Cognitive Science behind the Common Core

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Raising academic standards has been part of the education policy discourse for decades. As early as the 1990s, states and school districts attempted to raise student achievement by developing higher standards and measuring student progress according to more rigorous benchmarks. However, the caliber of the standards–and their assessments–varied greatly from state to state. For example, Massachusetts adopted some of the highest standards and most challenging exams in the country and has some of the highest-achieving students in the nation. On the other hand, Mississippi set a low bar, and the state’s students are often ill prepared for college and careers. Recognizing that the previous patchwork system did not work, a group of bipartisan governors and state superintendents came together to develop a shared set of more rigorous,… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – An Analysis of the High Attrition Rates among First Year College Science, Math and Engineering Majors.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Increases in attrition rates among science, mathematics, and engineering (SME) majors have produced a variety of deleterious effects for society. This paper attempts to clarify and interpret the interaction of those characteristics of the structure and culture of undergraduate SME programs that perpetuate high loss rates among their first-year college majors by looking at a number of studies of SME programs and undergraduate attrition. The interaction of instructional factors, differing high school and faculty expectations for entering SME undergraduates, and epistemological considerations was found to contribute to a higher dissatisfaction among SME majors as compared with non-SME major and to resulting student attrition. Significant support was not seen for the contribution of commonly cited explanations of SME attrition such as cognitive factors and large class sizes. (Contains… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Strategies for Improving School Performance

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The document is from a presentation at the Texas Region VII 2014 Curriculum Conference. The study examined the effects of a three-tiered high school program designed to increase student achievement and Texas end-of-course (EOC) TAKS and STAAR chemistry scores. The student sample (n = 625) consisted 75% high school sophomores and 25% high school juniors. EOC test results showed the presenter’s students (on-level, inclusion (IN) special education, limited English proficiency (LEP), economically disadvantaged (EDS), and 504 monitored) scored yearly in the 90% passing range. From 2008 to the present, results indicated that the students made significant academic progress. The three-tiered program components were based on school culture findings, productive classroom management research, and classroom programs and strategies. This program will also apply to 6-12 math and social… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – IDRA Newsletter. Volume 37, No. 2

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Teaching Quality and includes: (1) Ensuring Teaching Quality in a Civil Rights Context (Bradley Scott); (2) An Unspoken Culture Clash–The Deeper Culprit of Teacher Beliefs (Veronica Betancourt and Kristin Grayson); (3) Texas Accountability–A Fast Track for Some; A Dead End for Others (Josie Danini Cortez); and (4) How One Group of Families Explored Clues about their Children’s Math Education (Aurelio M. Montemayor). (Individual articles contain resources.) Link til kilde

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Eric.ed.gov – From 1 to Z: Integrating Math and Language Learning.

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: Techniques for integrating English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) instruction and mathematics instruction, particularly the language of mathematics, are discussed. Focus here is on mathematics instruction for limited-English-speaking students in the mainstream classroom. First, examples of the academic language of mathematics that students must develop are outlined. Some instructional techniques that incorporate students’ own language and background in the construction of mathematics concepts and formal mathematics register are then offered. These include: techniques to make mathematics lessons more comprehensible and ways to promote interaction and provide a classroom environment conducive to language and literacy acquisition; methods for maintaining high expectations for language minority students and helping them develop higher-order cognitive and metacognitive skills and strategies; and assessment of language development alongside conceptual knowledge. A concluding discussion looks at the roles of… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – To Adapt or Subscribe: Teachers’ Informal Collaboration and View of Mandated Curricula

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: California public schools serve a highly diverse student population, including: 65% minorities, 24.9% English Language Learners, 10.6% disabled, and 19% in poverty. In the face of this diversity, all teachers are expected to use the Curriculum Frameworks of the California State Board of Education as a “blueprint for implementing the content standards adopted by the California State Board of Education and are developed by the Curriculum Development and Supplemental Materials Commission.” The Curriculum Standards for California Public Schools and “No Child Left Behind” (NCLB) appear to have a goal of equal access to education for all students. “Education: The Promise of America” states that the goal of the NCLB legislation is to ensure that “all children are proficient in reading and math by the 2013-2014 school year”… Continue Reading

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Eric.ed.gov – Learning from Charter School Management Organizations: Strategies for Student Behavior and Teacher Coaching

eric.ed.gov har udgivet: The National Study of Charter Management Organization (CMO) Effectiveness is a four-year study designed to assess the impact of CMOs on student achievement and to identify effective structures and practices. An earlier report from this study documented the substantial variation in CMO student achievement impacts as well as variation in CMOs’ use of particular educational strategies and practices. That report noted that the most effective CMOs emphasize two practices in particular: schoolwide behavior strategies and intensive teacher coaching and monitoring. This report is designed to provide an in-depth description of the student behavior and teacher coaching practices of five high-performing CMOs that rely on these practices. Focusing on five high-performing CMOs, the report seeks to help educators learn more about these promising practices. To identify practices associated… Continue Reading