Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) has identified low student achievement in statistics in the middle grades as a critical concern. It has also expressed concern that statistics instruction does not meet the level of cognitive complexity described in the state curriculum standards. This randomized controlled trial in 40 BCPS middle schools…

Although most tasks that STEM professionals engage in--like identifying problems, making models, and testing those models--involve inquiry, many STEM classes still rely on direct instruction. Stephan argues that even as new resources for active learning are being developed for STEM instruction, many teachers aren't using these resources and tasks…

Latent transition analysis (LTA) was initially developed to provide a means of measuring change in dynamic latent variables. In this article, we illustrate the use of a cognitive diagnostic model, the DINA model, as the measurement model in a LTA, thereby demonstrating a means of analyzing change in cognitive skills over time. An example is…

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM), many teachers are changing their classroom structure from teacher-directed to student-centered. When the author began designing and using problem-based tasks she saw a drastic improvement in student engagement and problem-solving skills. The author describes the Cake…

In grade 6, students should be able to "perform arithmetic operations, including those involving whole-number exponents, in the conventional order when there are no parentheses to specify a particular order" (p. 44). In grades 7 and 8, the rules of order of operations are used to simplify progressively complicated expressions and in…

Games can both generate excitement among students and motivate them to participate in mathematics. Although games have been used primarily to "review" mathematical concepts at the middle school level, games should, and often do, have other instructional purposes. When teachers use mathematical games as an instructional strategy, they are…

State frameworks and national standards are explicit about the mathematics content that students must master at each grade level. Although the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the No Child Left Behind Act mandate that students who are deaf or hard of hearing and communicate in sign language have access to this content, evidence…

This practice guide presents five recommendations intended to help educators improve students' understanding of, and problem-solving success with, fractions. Recommendations progress from proposals for how to build rudimentary understanding of fractions in young children; to ideas for helping older children understand the meaning of fractions and…

By examining how people learn, the educational theories of Dewey, Piaget, Vygotsky and Bruner can be synthesized to give this set of core Constructivist principles. Principles of effective mathematics teaching: (1) allows learning that is "active" and "reflective". Students are required to transfer key concepts to new situations; (2) allows…

The history of strategies research during the past quarter century has been a story of significant conceptualizations and reconceptualizations regarding the nature, development, and teaching of cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Theoretical models, empirical research, and discussions contributed by Michael Pressley have been central to…

This article uses "fibbin" (Fibonacci poems) as an instructional strategy to teaching reading and writing across the curriculum. It describes fibbin from a historical and mathematical perspective and discusses it as an adaptation of the famous Fibonacci sequence to teaching content area material (e.g. science, math, and social studies). This…

Traditional measures of teachers' competency have been widely criticized for their lack of authenticity and predictive validity. There is little evidence regarding the technical soundness of traditional teacher licensure tests and little research documenting the validity of such tests for identifying competent teachers or effective teaching.…

This article discusses the theoretical framework, instructional design, formative assessment results, capacity for national distribution, and generalization of the Blending Assessment with Instruction Program (BAIP) model to other content areas such as science. The BAIP, developed and validated at the University of Kansas, employs technology to…

Geospatial and Robotics Technologies for the 21st Century (GEAR-Tech-21), teaches science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) through robotics, global positioning systems (GPS), and geographic information systems (GIS) activities for youth in grades 5-8. Participants use a robotics kit, handheld GPS devices, and GIS technology to…

The purpose of this article is to document the legacy and continuing influence of Michael Pressley's work in the field of reading research and instruction. Descriptions are provided to demonstrate how he translated his data from the cognitive sciences into highly effective pedagogy. A second component of this article discusses how Michael…