This study explores the relationships between methods of parental assistance (i.e., provision of structure, direct assistance, and autonomy support) with mathematics homework for high-achieving and low-achieving students and children's achievement in mathematics in low-income families and examines the impact of parental efficacy on these…

This article presents an interview with Jeremy Koester, an eighth grade math teacher and football coach at Alamo Heights Junior School in San Antonio, Texas. In this interview, Koester describes his use of technology in his classes and describes his dream of advancing Second Life (SL) as a distance education environment. SL is a "3-D virtual…

Investigation of (n=41) eighth-grade mathematics classrooms in which three teaching approaches (algorithmic practice, teaching with meaning, and problem-process approach) found that the problem-process groups showed increased achievement and improved student attitudes. (38 references) (Author/MKR)

T-algebra is a project for creating an interactive learning environment for expression manipulation tasks of elementary algebra. Our main didactical principle has been that all the necessary decisions and calculations at each solution step should be made by the student, and the program should be able to understand the mistakes. This paper…

Mathematics teachers from 3 school districts watched a 50-minute mathematics lesson video taped in Japan. Participants were asked to compare this lesson against the vision of improved practice promoted by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Use of the video as a concrete referent clarified participants' interpretations of…

This paper uses data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial State Assessment to describe educational opportunities for students in eighth-grade mathematics in 1990. The first section of the paper summarizes the methodology used here and in the 1990 NAEP Trial State Assessment. The second section summarizes findings…

Early research has shown that using practicing mathematics teachers as mentors results in increased teacher self-respect, improved teaching skills, and renewed enthusiasm for teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of a resident mentor teacher on student achievement in mathematics. Measures of achievement were obtained…

This paper presents a description of a northern Florida middle school and of the students enrolled in the school, 92% of whom are African-American. Three quarters of the entire student population is eligible for free or reduced price government assisted lunches. This figure is double the state average. During academic year 1991-92, expenditure per…

Reporting on part of the data collected in the Junior High Classroom Organization Study, this document focuses on the mathematics subsample. Twenty-six mathematics teachers in 11 junior high schools were observed in two classes. The major purpose of this paper is to describe the classroom procedures and behaviors of teachers identified as…

The "Standards" of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) were established as a broad framework to guide reform in school mathematics, not as a specific curriculum. Whether the implementation of the NCTM standards in classrooms has a relationship to student anxiety about mathematics was studied. Student levels of…

The Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) is the largest, most comprehensive, and most rigorous international comparison of education ever undertaken. During the 1995 school year, the study tested the mathematics and science knowledge of a half-million students from 41 nations at five different grade levels. In addition to…

A report is given of the development and implementation of a training manual for eighth-grade mathematics teachers in the Netherlands. The manual is research-based on process-product correlations of effective classroom practices. To test the effectiveness of a 6-hour training period using the manual, nine experienced mathematics teachers were…

Classroom tests developed by seventh- and eighth-grade science teachers (n=23) and mathematics teachers (n=18) were analyzed by panels of content and measurement experts. The 41 participating teachers, each of whom contributed 2 tests, completed a questionnaire, an interview, and 2 measures of competence in testing. Teachers used all major item…

This study focused on teachers' academic preparation for teaching science and mathematics, as measured by the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) which collected data for a nationally representative sample of 26,435 8th-grade students clustered within 1,052 schools. The relationship between teachers' academic preparation, their…

Given the frequency with which teachers use self-developed tests to evaluate students, and given the paucity of requirements related to developing measurement competencies, some educators and measurement specialists question the adequacy of teachers' training in and knowledge of measurement principles. This study assesses teachers' measurement…