The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the implementation of a researcher-created numberless word problem instructional unit designed to introduce second-grade students to word problems in the semantic category of "compare with the word more, smaller unknown." The 10-day instructional unit incorporated three elements:…

National mathematics achievement results show that elementary students in the United States are not increasing in cognitive ability or critical thinking skills (NAEP, 2020). For this increase, mathematically promising students require more opportunities for cognitively demanding mathematics instruction. As a result, this descriptive study focused…

The U.S. is deficient in producing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professionals. Competent problem solving is a desirable educational outcome pertinent to STEM education. Research has demonstrated the effectiveness of teaching task-specific problem-solving skills using behavior-analytic tactics. Learners have been taught to…

Schools in Florida used the multitiered system of support response to intervention framework to help students achieve the state and national standards but, in the national report card, 61% of the fourth-graders assessed in mathematics failed to achieve proficiency. Research indicated that the students lacked mathematical word problem-solving…

The ability to think and solve problems quickly is a necessary skill for success in education (Flanagan, Ortiz, Alfonso, & Mascolo, 2006; Proctor, 2011; Taub, Floyd, Keith, & McGrew, 2008). This leaves students who struggle with speeded tasks at greater risk for not meeting the educational demands in the classroom. Modern intellectual…

Problem-solving occurs when mathematical tasks create opportunities that provide challenges for increasing students' mathematical understanding and development. This research study determined the influence of the "launch-explore-summarize/extend" problem-solving framework on second-grade student performance of place value tasks. The…

This study examined the performance gap experienced by high achieving grade four and five students at the Kallang International Day School (KIDS) who were not demonstrating growth in math results from fall to spring as measured by the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test (NWEA, 2017). The purpose of this study was to apply the gap analysis…

Problem solving in mathematics has been a goal for students for decades. In the reviewed literature, problem solving was most often treated as the dependent variable and was defined very broadly; however, few studies were found that included problem solving as a treatment or independent variable. The purpose of this study was to investigate the…

Learning mathematics is problematic for most primary school age children because mathematics is rote and the memorization of steps rather than an approach to seeing relationships that builds inquiry and understanding. Therefore, the traditional "algorithmic" way of teaching mathematics has not fully prepared students to be critical…

The goal of this study was to document the characteristics of students' dispositions towards mathematics when they engaged in the exploration of parts of unsolved problems: Graceful Tree Conjecture and Collatz Conjecture. Ten students, Grades 4 and 5, from an after-school program in the Midwest participated in the study. I focused on the…

A local urban school district recently reported that 86% of third graders did not demonstrate proficiency on the Math Standardized Test, which challenges students to solve problems and justify solutions. It is beneficial if these skills are developed prior to third grade. Students may be more academically successful if kindergarten teachers have…

Elementary mathematics teachers in Maryland are required to teach according to the Maryland College and Career-Ready Standards (MCCRS). Implementation of these standards requires teachers to understand and implement instructional shifts that are unlike the way most of them were taught mathematics in elementary school. Consequently, educator…

Distinguishing between sources of variability in mathematics performance may contribute to a more comprehensive theory of mathematics skills. Research has examined student differences based upon scores on achievement tests, which provide overall proficiency, but may not provide the detailed information for identifying and remediating difficulties.…

Proficiency in mathematics across the United States has become an area of concern as performance on state accountability tests continues to demonstrate that less than 50% of students in 4th and 8th grade are proficient in mathematics (NCES, 2013). With such large numbers of students lacking proficiency in mathematics, systematic interventions that…

The use of mathematics performance tasks can provide a window into how a student is applying mathematics to various situations, how they are reasoning mathematically and how they are applying conceptual knowledge through problem solving and critical thinking. The purpose of this study was to investigate, according to the elementary mathematics…