Decimals and the related areas of ratio and proportion are recognised as one of the most challenging and complex areas of mathematics for young children to learn. In this study, four dynamic digital representations were used by Year 4 (9-10 years old) students in a set of video-recorded, individual task-based interviews to explore key concepts of…

As elementary students begin to program using tangible blocks, they must coordinate their use of counting with the movements, directions, and numbers they use to move a character. In our study, we analyzed 13 first graders' first attempts at coordinating these elements when playing a programming game on the iPad that used tangible programming…

In a research study designed to investigate the emergence of collective creativity in elementary classroom settings, and in which teachers' decision-making practices were analyzed alongside both the teachers' observed teaching practices in their classrooms and their students' problem solving actions, the first author developed four metaphors for…

Understanding how young learners come to construct viable mathematical arguments about general claims is a critical objective in early algebra research. The study reported here characterizes empirically developed progressions in Grades K-1 students' thinking about arguments concerning sums of evens and odds. Data are drawn from classroom lessons…

Worldwide interest in Lesson Study (LS) and the opportunities offered for student learning through the use of a Structured Problem-Solving Approach (SPSA), as typically adopted in Japanese LS research lessons in mathematics, have left largely unanswered questions about the extent to which these can be replicated elsewhere. This paper presents a…

Children's math performance is strongly correlated with later life outcomes, but early gaps in math skills are stubbornly difficult to close. It is therefore important to identify student math needs early. Using Grade 1-3 student records from Kentucky public schools, the study finds that typically recommended cut scores for widely used early grade…

That social studies and, to a lesser degree science, have become something of orphans in K-6 instruction is an open secret. The system of schooling in the US has increasingly become objectives and standards based. As this edifice has grown, it has demanded more measurability and thus more accountability. That accountability, through testing, is…

We report on questionnaire data gathered from teacher participants (n = 100) following their participation in the project, Exploring Mathematical Sequences of Connected, Cumulative and Challenging Tasks. Teachers shared their views about the effectiveness of various instructional approaches to support differentiation in mathematics, including…

Big Ideas in school mathematics can be seen as overarching concepts that occur in various mathematical topics in a syllabus. Although there has been much interest recently in the understanding of Big Ideas, there is little research done in the assessment of Big Ideas thinking. In this paper, we discuss our research on Big Ideas in School…

Teachers hold complex goals when making decisions about their curriculum. In particular, the proliferation of supplemental resources means teachers negotiate both how to use the adopted curriculum and how to supplement it with additional resources. Through a study of the language teachers use, the decision-making of three elementary classrooms is…

There is growing recognition that mathematical modeling can be a lever for equity in elementary mathematics classrooms. This study focuses on the impact of a professional development program focused on culturally responsive mathematical modeling on 8 kindergarten through 2nd grade teachers' practices in modeling lessons. We use a project developed…

In this paper we explored primary school teachers preference for different game modes to support mathematics teaching and learning. Eighty-four teachers played digital and non-digital addition and subtraction games that were functionally equivalent during professional learning workshops. Most teachers indicated that they would be more likely to…

Number talks, a popular mathematics teaching routine in the United States, may offer supports for beginning teachers (BTs) to engage in ambitious instruction. BTs' enactments of number talks, however, are varied, and there are few empirical studies that explore how BTs' enactment of number talks could be more (or less) ambitious. This paper draws…

In this paper we examine how teachers who are pursuing their Elementary Mathematics Specialist certification--Elementary Mathematics Specialists in Training (EMSTs)--are positioned in their advice and information networks for mathematics. We analyzed the instructional networks of six elementary schools in one Midwestern school district. Our…

Future time perspective is now increasingly catching attention in educational psychology field. There is evidence that students' future time perspective negatively affected students' academic procrastination. Although the relationship between future time perspective and academic procrastination is stable. There are research gaps to be filled. On…