Examines the impact of street mathematics on African-American students in one inner-city elementary and one urban high school. Offers suggestions for using street mathematics as an alternative to traditional mathematics instruction for at-risk students. (SLD)

Analyzed the mathematics standards of 8 cohorts of Year 2 children from five randomly selected British primary schools within one Local Education Authority; children had completed Mathematics 7 from the National Curriculum. Found evidence of stable standards of attainment over the eight years. Found fewer overachievers than expected. Examined the…

Investigated the effects of cooperative learning on secondary students' mathematics achievement and attitudes. In one class, students used cooperative-learning groups. In a second class, students studied independently. Results from a student survey and students' chapter test scores indicated that students who used cooperative learning had…

Investigates the effect of mathematics portfolio assessments on middle school students' achievement. Discusses portfolio contents, students' attitudes toward the ability of portfolios to reflect their achievement and toward their active involvement in assessment, and the success of the evaluations. (JPB)

Examined whether changes in format of mathematics items in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) had any effect on gender differences in performance using a Swedish sample of 8,851 sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. Results show no significant changes in gender differences when item format is altered. (SLD)

Looks at differences among six Asian-American ethnic groups in terms of student-level and school-level characteristics and examines factors related to their educational aspirations. Discusses implications for counselors to help Asian-American students achieve academic success in secondary and higher education. (Author/MKA)

Describes some basic difficulties in early algebra and their causes and presents some strategies for overcoming them. Lists five areas as being essential foundations for learning algebra: (1) seeing the operation, not just the answer; (2) understanding the equals sign; (3) understanding the properties of numbers; (4) being able to use all numbers;…

Describes the design of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and results for Dutch students in grade 8. Presents these results in an international perspective and discusses differences between the results of these Dutch students on the written test (far above the international mean) and in the performance assessment (close…

Suggests ways researchers can use international comparisons to improve student learning, using math performance of U.S. and Chinese sixth-graders on four types of tasks. Chinese students did better on computation; U.S. students excelled at process (open performance) assessment tasks. U.S. kids need to develop symbolic and algebraic thinking. (MLH)

Examines effects of the National Urban League's Systemic Initiative reforms in four cities: Chicago, El Paso, Memphis, and Miami, based on an analysis of interviews with 47 principals. Principals must balance the demands of systemic math and science reforms with those of multilevel accountability policies. Such alignments may be unachievable.…

Between 1970 and 1988, the African-American/white achievement gap was halved; progress halted during the 1990s. Latino students made substantial progress until 1992. Increasing minority and low-income students' achievement levels requires focusing on what really matters: high standards, a challenging curriculum, and good teachers. (MLH)

Uses data from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to examine the relationship between class size and mathematics achievement in nine countries. In no country other than the United States was a beneficial effect found for small class sizes. Except in Hong Kong, neither curricular coverage nor instructional practices…

Examines Black-White and Hispanic-White achievement gap trends over 30 years, identifying key factors contributing to bifurcated patterns in achievement gaps. While conventional measures of socioeconomic status, family conditions, youth culture, student behavior, and schooling might account for some of the trends for a limited time period or a…

Examines perspectives on family influences on child development. Maintains that genetic and biological factors and parental actions/attitudes make important contributions to individual differences. Draws on research on gender differences and conduct disorders to illustrate that parental influence on individual differences within cultures has been…

Finds little or no differential effects of ability grouping for high-, average-, or low-achieving students, based on data from a 1992 longitudinal study. Examination of three school inputs (class size, teacher education, and teacher experience) indicates that grouping and nongrouping schools similarly tailor resources to ability levels. (Contains…