The Effects of "Math Pathways and Pitfalls" on Students' Mathematics Achievement
The Effects of

Author: Joan I. Heller

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 85

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This study was designed to assess the impact of "Mathematics Pathways and Pitfalls" ("MPP") on the mathematics that second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade students learn. The specific research questions that were addressed are: (a) What is the impact of "MPP" on students' knowledge of the mathematics topics addressed, compared to that of students using the regular math curriculum? and (b) How equitable is the impact of "MPP" on students' mathematics knowledge across levels of English language proficiency and entering mathematics ability? A cluster-randomized experimental design was implemented in five school districts. In the first year of the study, second-, fourth-, and sixth-grade teachers were randomly assigned within their school districts to either an experimental or a control group. The experimental group teachers were taught how to implement "MPP" during a six-hour professional development session. In the first year of the study, experimental group teachers substituted "MPP" for a portion of their regular mathematics curriculum. The control group teachers used their regular mathematics curriculum, and received whatever professional development they normally were provided during that year. A total of 99 teachers and 1,971 students participated in the first year of the study. The "MPP" Pitfalls Quiz was the primary instrument used to measure students' mathematical knowledge. A separate "MPP" Pitfalls Quiz was developed for each grade level. Items on the "MPP" Pitfalls Quizzes assess concepts and procedures that are known to cause difficulty for students. In addition to the "MPP" Pitfalls Quizzes, standardized mathematics achievement test score data were collected. Multilevel statistical models were used to analyze the achievement test data. These analyses showed that student math performance in "MPP" classes was higher than in non-"MPP" classes for all three grade levels. With respect to the impact of "MPP" on students' mathematics knowledge across levels of English language proficiency, we found that for second and fourth grades, "MPP" impacted ELL and non-ELL students equally. The effect size statistics (ESS) for second and fourth grade were 0.43 and 0.66, respectively. For sixth grade, "MPP" had a greater treatment effect for ELL students (ESS = 0.74) than non-ELL students (ESS = 0.28). Teachers expressed strongly positive opinions about the value of the program, including that their students understood the math topics in the lessons better than students in past years, and that "MPP" helped most of their students learn the math concepts and prevent pitfalls. (Contains 29 tables.) ["Mathematics Pathways and Pitfalls" materials presented in this document were developed by the Mathematics Case Methods Project/WestEd.].

Lessons Learned
Lessons Learned

Author: Tom Loveless

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2008-08-01

Total Pages: 290

ISBN-13: 0815753357

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Standards for education achievement are under scrutiny throughout the industrial world. In this technological age, student performance in mathematics is seen as being particularly important. For more than four decades, international assessments conducted by the International Association for Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) have measured how well students are learning mathematics in different countries. The latest round of mathematics testing of the Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) takes place in 2007. Beyond the horse race—the rankings that compare nations—what have we learned from the wealth of data collected in these assessments? How do US math curriculums compare to those used overseas? Is the effect of technology in the classroom uniform across nations? How do popular math reforms fare abroad? Those are some of the critical issues tackled in this important book. The authors use the database to address several pressing questions about school policy and educational research. For example, Ina Mullis and Michael Martin review the major lessons learned over the history of TIMSS testing. William Schmidt and Richard T. Houang examine whether curricular breadth affects student achievement. Jeremy Kilpatrick, Vilma Mesa, and Finbarr Sloane evaluate American performance in algebra relative to other nations and pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in American students' learning of algebra.

English Learners in the Mathematics Classroom
English Learners in the Mathematics Classroom

Author: Debra Coggins

Publisher: Corwin Press

Published: 2014-08-19

Total Pages: 161

ISBN-13: 1483331806

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Research-based strategies to reach English learners – now aligned with the Common Core! Enable your English learners to build higher-level math skills and gain greater fluency in their new language—all while achieving the goals of the Common Core. Now in its second edition, this trusted resource includes: Mathematics lesson scenarios in every chapter, directly connected to Common Core Standards and the Standards for Mathematical Practice Instructional approaches that promote participation, hands-on learning, and true comprehension of mathematics concepts that benefit ALL students Sample lessons, visuals, and essential vocabulary that connect mathematical concepts with language development

Effects of TRIAD on Mathematics Achievement
Effects of TRIAD on Mathematics Achievement

Author: Douglas H. Clements

Publisher:

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 18

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Although some research-based educational practices have shown promise, many fail to be implemented at a scale that affects more than a small proportion of children. Further, research on interventions for young children includes mixed results, with most documenting "fadeout" of effects after several years, but some showing lasting effects. In this study, the authors evaluated the long-term impacts of a model for scaling up early interventions, in this case a successful early mathematics curriculum, testing to see whether the originally-sustained impacts persisted up to 7 years beyond baseline. The original evaluation of TRIAD (Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development) employed a cluster randomized trial (CRT) design to test the effectiveness of the TRIAD scale-up approach, using the Building Blocksʼ early mathematics curriculum (BB) in preschool. In this evaluation, 42 schools were randomly assigned to three groups. One of the groups was a business-as-usual control (CTRL). In preschool, the other two conditions were identical and entailed TRIAD scale-up (intensive training, coaching focused on both BB curriculum and linked assessment and online professional development). After preschool, one of the treatment conditions included follow-through professional development through 1st grade, including knowledge of the intervention and ways to build upon that knowledge using learning trajectories (TRIAD Follow-Through or TRIAD-FT) while the other condition implemented business-as-usual control (TRIAD Non-follow-through or TRIAD-NFT). Students in the two treatment conditions significantly outperformed their peers in the control condition through 1st grade. The primary purpose of the current investigation was to examine the long-term effects of the early mathematics curriculum, but the secondary aim was to explore whether the TRIAD scale-up approach itself, which included aligned professional development for kindergarten and 1st grade teachers, also enhanced the effects of the pre-K curriculum beyond 1st grade. Research questions were as follows: (1) What are the differences in the average math achievement of the three original study groups (TRIAD-NFT, TRIAD-FT, and CTRL) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade; (2) Do the differences in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the original study groups vary by the socio-economic and racial/ethnic backgrounds of the students in the groups; (3) What are the differences in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the subset of children who remained in the group to which their original school was randomly assigned throughout the intervention period (pre-K through 1st grade); and (4) Do the differences in the in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade math achievement of the subset of children who remained in the group to which their original school was randomly assigned throughout the intervention period (pre-K through 1st grade) vary by the students' socio-economic status and racial/ethnic backgrounds? Figure 1 presents results addressing the first research question that pertain to the differences between the three groups at the end of pre-K through 5th grade. Figures 2a and 2b inform the second research question and show the effects of the FT and NFT conditions separately for African-American, Hispanic, other minority, and white students. Figures 3a and 3b show the FT and NFT effect estimates separately for the low and high SES subgroups formed based on students' eligibility for FRPL. Figures 4, 5a, 5b, 6a, and 6b inform the 3rd and 4th research questions and show parallel results for the stayers (students who stayed in the original conditions between pre-K and 1st grade). Impacts at the end of 5th grade were statistically significant and considerably larger than impacts in 3rd and 4th grade for both conditions and all subgroups. Tables and figures are appended.

Designing Assessment for Quality Learning
Designing Assessment for Quality Learning

Author: Claire Wyatt-Smith

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2014-03-10

Total Pages: 405

ISBN-13: 9400759029

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book brings together internationally recognised scholars with an interest in how to use the power of assessment to improve student learning and to engage with accountability priorities at both national and global levels. It includes distinguished writers who have worked together for some two decades to shift the assessment paradigm from a dominant focus on assessment as measurement towards assessment as central to efforts to improve learning. These writers have worked with the teaching profession and, in so doing, have researched and generated key insights into different ways of understanding assessment and its relationship to learning. The volume contributes to the theorising of assessment in contexts characterised by heightened accountability requirements and constant change. The book’s structure and content reflect already significant and growing international interest in assessment as contextualised practice, as well as theories of learning and teaching that underpin and drive particular assessment approaches. Learning theories and practices, assessment literacies, teachers’ responsibilities in assessment, the role of leadership, and assessment futures are the organisers within the book’s structure and content. The contributors to this book have in common the view that quality assessment, and quality learning and teaching are integrally related. Another shared view is that the alignment of assessment with curriculum, teaching and learning is linchpin to efforts to improve both learning opportunities and outcomes for all. Essentially, the book presents new perspectives on the enabling power of assessment. In so doing, the writers recognise that validity and reliability - the traditional canons of assessment – remain foundational and therefore necessary. However, they are not of themselves sufficient for quality education. The book argues that assessment needs to be radically reconsidered in the context of unprecedented societal change. Increasingly, communities are segregating more by wealth, with clear signs of social, political, economic and environmental instability. These changes raise important issues relating to ethics and equity, taken to be core dimensions in enabling the power of assessment to contribute to quality learning for all. This book offers readers new knowledge about how assessment can be used to re/engage learners across all phases of education.

Mathematical learning and its difficulties
Mathematical learning and its difficulties

Author: Linda Salihu

Publisher:

Published: 2023

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The aim of this study was threefold. First, it aimed to examine the effect of instructional feedback clarity on the learning and motivation of students with mathematical difficulties, as well as to assess whether their mathematics achievement is affected by socioeconomic background, gender, and performance level. Second, the study aimed to explore the relations between instructional feedback clarity in mathematics lessons and achievement in math cognitive domains (knowing, applying, and reasoning), along with motivation and confidence in mathematics. Third, the study also aimed to investigate whether the achievement and motivation of students with math difficulties are predicted by the level of instructional feedback clarity and confidence in mathematics when considering their socioeconomic factors. The study was an analysis of low performance in mathematics of fourth-grade students from Kosovo in Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2019. The TIMSS 2019 dataset for the Kosovo national sample of 4495 students, nested in 219 classrooms from 145 schools was used to conduct a secondary data analysis. From this sample, 2708 students identified with low performance in the TIMSS 2019 mathematics assessment were the focus of the present study. Results of the study showed that the vast majority of fourth-grade students with mathematical difficulties reported that instructional feedback they received in math lessons was of high clarity. However, the percentage of students with low achievement in mathematics was also high. There was a significant difference in students’ mathematics achievement in terms of their background characteristics and performance level. The results showed that overall math achievement and motivation were higher for students who reported high clarity of instructional feedback compared to students who reported moderate to low clarity of instructional feedback in mathematics lessons. The same effect was observed on mathematics cognitive skills: math knowing, math applying, and math reasoning. Moreover, the clarity level of instructional feedback and the confidence level in mathematics were explanatory predictors of students’ mathematics achievement and motivation in mathematics even when considering their socioeconomic status, which also added to the explanatory variance in math outcomes. Implications of the findings for the educational policy and instructional practice were discussed.