Students' development of conceptual understandings is a central goal of mathematics education (CCSS-Mathematics, 2010). Such a challenging, yet ambiguous, goal cannot be achieved without empowering teachers with the knowledge and tools critical for their ability to adequately convey the content, and assess and interpret students' performance. This…

Most mathematics teachers know that students can be a great source for understanding what they need as thinkers, group members, mathematics learners, and future citizens. Thus, listening to students is an important teacher practice. But listening takes time, something that not all teachers feel that they have. And many attempts to listen to…

This study examines the relationship between specific leadership behaviors (i.e. the extent to which principals establish goals and expectations; plan, coordinate and evaluate teaching and the curriculum; and promote and participate in teacher learning) and teachers' self-reported sense of preparedness and self-reported use of practices that align…

Background: This paper describes the Problem-Solving Cycle model of professional development and the Mathematics Leadership Preparation model of PD leader preparation. These models form the backbone of our current research-practice partnership project in which we are working with a large urban district to adapt these models to develop district…

This review investigates effective interventions for teaching algebra to students with learning disabilities and evaluates the complexity and alignment of skills with the Common Core State Standards in math. The review includes the results of 10 experimental and 5 single-subject designs (N = 15) producing a moderate overall effect size (g = 0.48).…

Experts think in patterns and structures using the specific "language" of their domains. For mathematicians, these patterns and structures are represented by numbers, symbols and their relationships (Stokes, 2014a). To determine whether elementary students in the United States could learn to think in mathematical patterns to solve…

This paper addresses the contested way that ethnomathematics has sometimes been received by mathematicians and others and what that disagreement might suggest about issues in mathematics education; namely, (a) the relation of ethnomathematics to academic mathematics; (b) recent efforts to reform secondary school mathematics so that it prepares…

This guide outlines teacher preparation, professional association, and Common Core State Standards aligned to an "interdisciplinary collaborative mathematics" approach using Junior Achievement educational programs within a Math Methods course to train pre-service elementary teachers to teach math.

Twenty-one fourth graders are actively listening and constructively critiquing mathematical statements. Each student is eagerly participating in mathematical discussions that involve multiple strategies to discover solutions. What a dramatic change since the first months of school when the same students sat as quiet as stone statues, hoping their…

This article describes a series of two linear measurement activities designed to integrate the related content and processes of Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) into classroom practice using nonstandard units. In the article, nonstandard units refer to same-size, repeatable units (e.g., paper clips, feet) for a specified…

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in mathematics are currently adopted in most U.S. states. Nonetheless, most math teachers across the country are still experiencing difficulties in putting these standards into practice. Teachers and local school administrators are faced with a challenge of adapting methodologies in instruction and assessment…

This study examines the effects of early exposure of fraction instruction on K-3 students participating in a longitudinal fraction research study from 2007 to 2013. An explanatory multiple-case study research along with purposeful criterion sampling was used to gain insight into students' fractional understanding as they progress through the…

The Common Core Standards require students to learn content and mathematical practices, and so teachers must have content knowledge and be able to engage in practices themselves. This raises the question of how novice teachers learn to engage in mathematical practices. I investigate pre-service secondary teacher learning of mathematical practices…

For students to be successful in higher education, compete in 21st century careers and be economically competitive, they will need a greater understanding of mathematics that centers on critical thinking, problem solving, analysis, communication and collaboration (Dean, Hubbell, Pitler, & Stone, 2012; Gasser, 2011; Schornick, 2010). Delivering…

When finding the decimal equivalent of a fraction with 12 in the denominator, will it terminate or repeat? This question came from a seventh grader in author Erica Burnison's class as the student was pondering a poster generated by one of her classmates. Not only was the question intriguing, but it also affirmed the belief in the power of…