This paper examines the relation between computer use in diverse learning contexts and math achievement, and the gender and ethnicity-based differences in that relation. The study selected learner centeredness as a meaningful pedagogy in using computers because of its importance in technology-based learning. Along with the emerging notion of the…

This paper reports on a study conducted on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2005 database. The purpose of the study was to examine predictors of student achievement using middle school mathematics teacher professional development items as criterion variables, such as the number of mathematics courses taken, the number of…

Each edition of the IDRA Newsletter strives to provide many different perspectives on the issues in education topics discussed and to define its significance in the state and national dialogue. This issue focuses on Enlightened Public Policy and includes: (1) Texas Education Policy: Prospects for 2009 (Albert Cortez); (2) Bilingual Education in…

The present study sought to examine the relationship between teacher quality and student achievement in public elementary schools in a community district school of the New York City. It has 23 elementary schools, more than 7,600 students and around 350 teachers. For this study, participants consist of a sample of 117 full-time teachers who were…

This report describes the amount of variance in student achievement that can be attributed to school, teacher, and student-level variables.

Through several decades of research, a great deal has been written about trends in black-white test scores and the factors that may explain the gaps in different subject areas. Only a few studies have examined the changing relationships between gaps in students' test scores and family and school measures in nationally representative data over…

This substudy in the evaluation design of the Math and Science Partnership (MSP) Program Evaluation investigates changes in student mathematics and science achievement across three school years, 2002-03, 2003-04, and 2004-05, for MSP-related schools using Management Information System data with the Annual K-12 District Survey. First, changes in…

This document was created because of the need for new assessment strategies and practices to be developed to enable teachers and others to assess students' performance in a manner that reflects the NCTM's reform vision for school mathematics. Instead of assuming that the purpose of assessment is to rank students on a particular trait, the new…

This study sought to establish the benefits of an analytic scoring procedure for assessing student performance in doing geometry proofs. Using the cognitive behavior theories of B. Bloom and the theories of J. G. Greeno about geometric knowledge, five criteria were established for assessing performance in proof. After a training session, 3 judges…

The differences between reading and mathematics achievement were studied for 10 high and 10 low socioeconomic status (SES) elementary schools in a midwest urban district. The schools representing the top and bottom quartiles from among 40 schools were classified as high or low SES schools by using a set of highly intercorrelated school level SES…

This paper describes a 2-year collaborative action research project in which the focus was to investigate the effects of the use of "Hands-On Equations" mathematics manipulatives in an algebra class on students' confidence, interest in, and ability to solve and retain understanding of algebraic equations. The first phase centered on documenting…

A major goal of instruction is for students to develop competence with numbers. This study attempts to determine the effect of instructional materials that develop number concepts and connect these concepts to mental computation procedures. The study used 16 classes of eighth-grade students and a pretest-posttest design with two treatment groups.…

Reports from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) provide a starting point from which to examine U.S. student achievement in mathematics and science in an international context. This publication illustrates how the different types of information found in the international reports can provide a springboard for in-depth…

Consonant with the current concern for achievement of minority students, the two action research projects described in this paper use interviews and case studies of 10 African American high school students to address some issues related to motivation in the learning of mathematics, particularly as this motivation concerns aspects of the family…

This paper uses data from the 1990 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) Trial State Assessment to describe educational opportunities for students in eighth-grade mathematics in 1990. The first section of the paper summarizes the methodology used here and in the 1990 NAEP Trial State Assessment. The second section summarizes findings…