Analyzes parental variables investigated in the Longitudinal Study of American Youth. Analysis revealed that not all parental variables investigated had significant relations to students' mathematics achievement at the seventh-grade level. Findings indicate that parent education and encouragement are strongly related to improved student…

Examines the difficulties 19 preservice elementary and middle school teachers experienced when creating and interpreting graphs in which speed is one of the variables. Identifies four cognitive obstacles held by the preservice teachers and provides excerpts of their graphical constructions and verbal interpretations. Discusses potential causes for…

Discusses two knowledge domains, 'use technology' and 'teach with technology effectively' in supporting teachers' professional growth. Presents reflections from a project in which middle school teachers use computer software to improve their mathematics teaching and learning. (Contains 13 references.) (Author/ASK)

This paper describes the mechanism used to gain insights into the state of the art of mathematics instruction in a large urban district in order to design meaningful professional development for the teachers in the district. Surveys of close to 2,000 elementary, middle school, and high school students were collected in order to assess the…

This study focused on two middle schools in the central US who participated in collaborative, sustained, whole-school professional development in implementing inquiry as part of National Science Education Standards, or standards-based instructional practices. Participants were involved in their second year of the professional development…

Imaginative ways of using calculators to explore decimal fractions with secondary school and some middle school students are given. Four explorations on terminating and repeating decimals, the length of periods, and relationships are described. An appendix presents mathematical proofs. (MNS)

Reasons for the development of middle schools and characteristics of middle school students are discussed. Students' physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development are considered, with references to research evidence. (MNS)

Activities are proposed which are designed to aid the development of formal reasoning processes in middle and junior high school pupils. It is felt the materials presented can be easily adapted by an instructor to many audience levels. The puzzle format is designed to increase student motivation for participation. (MP)

Findings of two recent investigations of the development of students' deductive reasoning abilities during early adolescence are examined, and implications for classroom instruction are discussed. Participants were students enrolled in two middle schools in a suburban public school district in Delaware, with equal numbers randomly chosen from four…

Presents an activity that explores the derivation of Pi. Involves students taking a constructivist role by collecting data, making conjectures, and using the data to construct graphs and tables and discourse about appropriate algebraic representations. Uses the computer as an instructional aid to enable students to view the data in a variety of…

Explores a way of analyzing laboratory activities that can help middle and high school science teachers to match their instructional goals with one of three appropriate types of activities: confirmation, generalization, or resolution. Examples and guiding principles for each kind of activity are given. (Contains 23 references.) (MDH)

Presents an extension of Pick's theorem for simple closed polygonal regions to unions of simple closed polygonal regions. Students are guided to discover Pick's theorem from sets of data including numbers of boundary points and numbers of interior points. (Author/MKR)

Explores 19 elementary and five middle school in-service teachers who served as regional leaders to provide 13 two- and four-day workshops for 235 inservice teachers using $30,000 worth of instructional equipment in their classrooms. Lead teachers believed this extensive project made a permanent positive impact on the quality and quantity of…

It is noted there are few reported studies on programs that focus on parents and their middle-school children learning science together. Details of a zoo course are provided as well as data from a survey designed to find out what other courses could be taught in a similar manner. (MP)

Investigates gender-related effects of a problem-solving plan for sixth graders (n=155). Analysis indicates a significant interaction effect of occasion of testing, test sequence, and gender. Concludes that females benefited from free exploration, of problem situations followed by an organized exploration whereas males appeared to function equally…