This paper describes the effects of a professional development (PD) program--Developing Mathematical Thinking--on student achievement. Six Title I elementary schools with similar demographics, within one school district, were chosen to participate as either a treatment or comparison school. Three schools were chosen to participate in professional…

Mathematics is the study of structure but students think of math as solving problems according to rules. Students can learn procedures, but they often have trouble knowing when to apply learned procedures, especially to problems unlike those they trained with. In this study, the authors rely on the psychological mechanism of perceptual learning…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth- and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and…

Results from the 2013 NAEP assessments show fourth-and eighth-graders making progress in mathematics and reading. Nationally representative samples of more than 376,000 fourth-graders and 341,000 eighth-graders were assessed in either mathematics or reading in 2013. Results are reported for public and private school students in the nation, and for…

Every child who enters a school system brings a different level of language mastery with which to recognize and express a different background of experience. This study examined the development of mathematical understanding and tested the efficacy of direct teaching to the target concepts. Two very similar districts in rural Idaho were selected.…

For five years running, the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) has tracked states' teacher policies, preparing a detailed and thorough compendium of teacher policy in the United States on topics related to teacher preparation, licensure, evaluation, career advancement, tenure, compensation, pensions and dismissal. The "2011 State…

The history of competency testing and legal issues related to it are reviewed briefly in light of the responsibility of school districts for providing remediation programs for students who have failed the test. The mathematics competencies of the state of Idaho are identified and keyed to four sets of readily available, secondary level Apple…

This document was designed to help Idaho schools with their development of a K-12 mathematics curriculum and program, and to assist in formulating some realistic goals for themselves and their students. The bulk of the document contains mathematics education standards for each of the grades K-8 and for grades 9-12 as a unit and includes goals,…

The Idaho edition of the National Council on Teacher Quality's (NCTQ's) 2009 "State Teacher Policy Yearbook" is the third annual look at state policies impacting the teaching profession. It is hoped that this report will help focus attention on areas where state policymakers can make changes that will have a positive impact on teacher…

This booklet contains summaries of more than 200 classroom projects developed by Idaho elementary school teachers and submitted by the teachers in response to a request by the governor. Of the submissions, 15 were specially selected for excellence. These are profiled first. The remaining projects are summarized under topic headings of: (1)…

Data on limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in Idaho's public schools and programs that serve this population are presented. Information was drawn from program applications and reports submitted to the state, site visits, and written LEP program assessments. The first part of the report summarizes data of LEP students and programs, including…