Math achievement plays a pivotal role in students' success in school and beyond. Algebra, in particular, serves as a crucial gateway: it increases the chances a student takes advanced math in high school, which has implications for their college and career prospects. In 2023 and 2024, the American Mathematics Educator Study (AMES) surveyed…

Current policy in England, informed by a version of cognitive science, enforces an absolute distinction between experts and novices, or teachers and learners; from this binary, operating in tandem with regimes of performativity instantiated in a curriculum shaped by high-stakes testing, are derived particular forms of pedagogy and particular…

The article describes a science activity designed to increase students' knowledge and awareness of the spread of COVID-19. It helps students achieve scientific literacy through improving their views about the nature of science and their argumentation skills. It also promotes students' engagement in scientific practices such as modelling,…

For many students, the journey from middle school to high school is marked by significant social, emotional, and behavioural changes. Undetected student needs and lack of parental engagement can contribute to a negative transition experience. When students struggle to adapt to new challenges and demands without supports, they are at a greater risk…

The importance of computational thinking skills in mathematics has been recognized in educational research for a long time. More recently, this recognition has materialized in formal international recommendations (e.g., by PISA's 2022 Mathematics Framework) and in national or provincial curricular reforms (e.g., in France, Sweden, and Canada) that…

In spring 2015 Mississippi began testing the college readiness of all grade 11 public high school students and found that approximately 18 percent were ready for college math, a percentage that had changed little by 2017/18. This study examined: (1) the sequences of math courses that Mississippi students took in grades 6-11; (2) the math…

In spring 2015 Mississippi began testing the college readiness of all grade 11 public high school students and found that approximately 18 percent were ready for college math, a percentage that had changed little by 2017/18. This study examined: (1) the sequences of math courses that Mississippi students took in grades 6-11; (2) the math…

Despite holding wide-ranging experiences with constant velocity and non-zero acceleration, students wrestling with physical science concepts struggle to demarcate the two distinct characteristics of motion. In fact, this prior experience and loose familiarity with associated terminology often act as an obstacle toward a deep and robust…

Problem solving has long been a focus of research and curriculum reform (Kilpatrick 1985; Lester 1994; NCTM 1989, 2000; CCSSI 2010). The importance of problem solving is not new, but the Common Core introduced the idea of making sense of problems and persevering in solving them (CCSSI 2010, p. 6) as an aspect of problem solving. Perseverance is…

The authors present evidence-based digital literacy practices and resources for teaching and learning English as an additional language in two different educational contexts where these practices have been applied successfully with adolescent learners.

This report examined three potential indicators of college enrollment school and district staff might use to identify and support students at risk of not attending college: (1) Chicago: Designed to predict high school graduation; based on earning six course credits--the minimum to advance to the next grade in HISD--and having at most one semester…

Middle school students need opportunities to craft informal mathematical arguments beyond justification of steps in an algorithm. Pentominoes provide an excellent vehicle for such activity. In this article, the authors describe an exploration with pentominoes that engaged a group of ninth-grade students in proportional reasoning, dilation, and…

This report illustrates the 2015-2016 graduation rate for a cohort of 2012-2013 9th-grade students who had ever been categorized as an English language learner (ever-ELL) and reasons ever-ELLs in that cohort left Austin Independent School District (AISD) without graduating.

This executive summary report includes results for Austin Partners in Education (APIE) programs in 2019-2020 including math classroom coaching, GEAR UP tutoring, college readiness, and mentoring. It highlights continued academic programs serving students in middle and high school and describes APIE support provided to teachers' instruction. As…

When teaching algebra concepts to middle school students, the author often hears questions that echo her own past confusion as a young student learning to write linear equations using data tables that show only input and output values. Students, expected to synthesize the relationship between these values in symbolic representation, grow…