In a global economy, stakeholders need to keep themselves well-informed in terms of how their local schools perform when compared with schools across the country and around the world. In doing so, they will be able to consider how well their schools are doing in a larger context and identify strengths as well as areas to target for improvement.…

The current project, Exploring Math Education Relations by Analyzing Large Data Sets (EMERALDS) II, is an attempt to identify specific Common Core State Standards procedural, conceptual, and problem-solving competencies in earlier grades that best predict success in algebraic areas in later grades. The data for this study include two cohorts of…

How well are Wake County Public Schools (WCPSS) students prepared for problem-solving, scientific reasoning, and critical thinking? (1) WCPSS schools out-performed both the U.S., national, and international averages in each core subject of the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA): mathematics, reading, and science; and (2) overall,…

In 2016, the University of Washington's School Mental Health Assessment, Research, and Training (SMART) Center launched a three-year study examining the feasibility, effectiveness, and efficiency of a Brief Intervention Strategy for School Mental Health Clinicians (BRISC). SMART partnered with Wilder Research and the University of Maryland to…

Since 1995, the Buck Institute has partnered with university economists and expert teachers to create the Problem Based Economics curriculum. The curriculum was developed to respond to NCEE (National Council on Economic Education) standards, and it is supported by professional development for teachers. This study examines whether the Problem Based…

This study examines whether the Problem Based Economics curriculum developed by the Buck Institute for Education improves grade 12 students' content knowledge as measured by the Test of Economic Literacy, a test refined by the National Council on Economic Education (NCEE) over decades. Students' problem-solving skills in economics were also…

The purpose of the study is to present research focused on validating the four algebra cognitive models in Gierl, Wang, et al., using student response data collected with protocol analysis methods to evaluate the knowledge structures and processing skills used by a sample of SAT test takers.

This article presents two classroom episodes in which students were exposed to the value of asking questions and to the different roles played by proof in mathematics. The conversation in the two episodes is outlined in the article. The setting was a classroom of fifteen good high-school students, who were studying calculus. These episodes…

This report provides key findings from the 2003 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). The report focuses on the performance of U.S. 15-year-olds in the two major areas assessed in 2003, mathematics literacy and problem solving, compared to their peers in 38 other countries. Information about achievement in reading literacy and…

This brief report documents growth in mathematics achievement during the high school years and its relationship to differential course taking in mathematics. Data are taken from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88), which was designed to monitor the transition of the nation's 1988 eighth graders as they progress from junior…

Eighty ninth graders who solved an algebra problem in groups of four showed status effects at the individual level. The students had filled out preactivity questionnaires about mathematical status and social status and a postactivity leadership questionnaire. Hierarchical regressions and path analyses show that, at the group level, solution score…

This paper: (1) reviews the development and implementation of a test designed to assess the competencies of public high school students in Atlanta, Georgia, preceding their graduation; and (2) presents the results of indicator cluster correlations between the new "Basic Skills Tests" and other reading and mathematics basal tests…

In May 2005, the International Technology Education Association (ITEA) was funded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop curricular units for Grades K-12 on Space Exploration. The units focus on aspects of the themes that NASA Engineers and Scientists--as well as future generations of explorers--must consider, such…