Problem solving, introduced in every grade and practiced throughout elementary school, is an essential foundation on which students build their understanding of mathematical ideas, operations, and relationships. This article discusses 1-2-3 Time, an instructional mode that promotes multimodal math learning in ways that engage and sustain students'…

A teacher describes the frustrations of an intelligent, learning-disabled fourth-grader who cannot pass the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System despite standard academic accommodations. The teacher advocates development of alternative or "nonstandard" accommodations and tests that assess students' spatial, problem-solving, and…

To make sense of the complex information taught in the upper elementary grades -- and to understand the language that increasingly appears in high-stakes tests--students must be proficient in academic English. English language learners are at a serious disadvantage. Two word problems in mathematics illustrate the difficulties that these students…