Magnitude understanding is critical for students to develop a deep understanding of fractions and more advanced mathematics curriculum. The research reports in this special issue underscore magnitude understanding for fractions and emphasize number lines as both an assessment and an instructional tool. In this commentary, we discuss how number…

Learning fractions is difficult for children in general and especially difficult for children with mathematics difficulties (MD). Recent research on developmental and individual differences in fraction knowledge of children with MD and typically achieving (TA) children has demonstrated that U.S. children with MD start middle school behind their TA…

The early use of the distributive law can aid students in learning addition of fractions and provide rapid approaches to computation involving other operations. (SD)

A series of activities designed to help primary school children understand the meaning of the term "fraction," the symbolization, and equivalence of fractions are presented. Identification of units and pictorial representation are stressed, as is the uses of concrete materials. (SD)

In response to an earlier article advocating the elimination of fractions from the curriculum, the author argues for their retention. He points out examples of their use in music and physic, and discusses methods of presenting operations on fractions. (SD)

This booklet is one of the ten in the series "Experiences in Mathematical Discovery", produced by the General Mathematics Writing Project of the NCTM. Each is designed for use by students of ninth-grade general mathematics. The discussion and problems are designed to guide the student through an understanding of: 1) fractions, 2) equivalent…

The SCOPE Mathematics Achievement Test booklet for grade 5 presents 11 mathematical concepts with instructions for students to take the test with little or no teacher direction. Testing items include: writing number words; reading and writing numerals in sequence from 0.001 to 100,000; adding and subtracting whole numbers; multiplying up to four…

The purpose of the two studies reported was to develop and validate clinical assessment instruments designed to identify both the progress of learners through a hierarchy of mathematics content and the mode of presentation through which learners can best handle the content. In Study 1, 73 second graders were given one of two forms of a 15-item…

This volume presents a partial description of the lessons in the preliminary version of the PLATO fractions curriculum. Each lesson has three parts: review, new material, and a student-selected option. Students receive immediate feedback from the computer as they progress through each lesson. Five groups of lessons are described: meaning of…

This is a reprint of an address given at the Christmas National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) meeting in 1958. It provides a critique of elementary instruction and discusses the changes necessary. It calls for fundamental change in the concept of mathematics teaching. (PDD)

This study determined if overall mathematics performance of male and female students was: (1) different within each of six content areas; (2) differentially affected by ability grouping within each of the six content areas; and (3) differentially affected by the combination of ability grouping and grade level within each of the six content areas.…

This publication is an abstracted compilation of 15 investigations selected from other journals. The information includes purpose, rationale, research design and procedures, findings, interpretations, abstractor's comments, and references. This journal includes the following reports: (1) "A Constructivist Approach to Numeration in Primary…