Details are provided about the American High School Mathematics Examination (AHSME), the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), and the USA Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO). The AIME will first be offered in 1983 as an intermediate examination between the AHSME and the USAMO. An appendix provides several sample problems. (MP)

A total of 169 third-grade pupils were used as the final sample in an examination of information matching ability involving haptic, auditory, and visual modalities in relation to mathematics achievement. Significant correlations were found between matching abilities involving the haptic modality and mathematics achievement, higher than found with…

Develops an alternative analysis to the Peabody Individual Achievement Tests' authors' suggested use of a pairwise comparison system to determine when one academic area is significantly different from another. Suggests determining academic strengths and weaknesses relative to a child's average performance on the entire test. (Author/JAC)

The possible effects and importance of student ability in language use and mathematical reasoning are reviewed. Data from the National University of Lesotho on incoming science students indicated that the relationships between language proficiency and mathematics achievement are quite complex. (MP)

Four spatial tests were given to 90 children enrolled in grades 2 through 7. Findings showed high mathematics achievers scored significantly higher than low mathematics achievers on all four tests, and boys scored higher than girls on the two tests measuring complex spatial abilities. (DT)

An innovation-focused Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) study of 13 nations participating in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) found universal unhappiness with the state of mathematics and science education. There was no link among successful test scores, improvement goals, or satisfaction of…

Compared performance of kindergartners exposed to mathematics content at storybook time and given story-related mathematics play materials to performance of a control group. Found that the experimental group showed a greater preference and aptitude for mathematics activities than the control group. (EV)

Reviews literature on mathematics achievement trends and discusses relevant population trends. Examines the literature on mathematics achievement by demographic group-race, class, gender, and language proficiency. Also highlights important findings including the improvement of all demographic groups in basic mathematics skills over the last 15…

Used Australian Mathematics Competition to examine performance in mathematics of students young for their grade. The youngest students performed better than the oldest students. There were more males than females in the older group but no gender differences in the younger group. Items ranged from routine to highly sophisticated. (NBI)

Examined the effects of early mathematics acceleration on the development of junior and senior high school students' mathematics attitudes and anxiety. Longitudinal Study of American Youth data indicated that for gifted and honors students, early acceleration did not necessarily confer negative emotional effects, while for regular students, it had…

Studied the effects of student attitudes toward mathematics, student perception of parental opinion, and student assessment of study time on performance on the Third International Mathematics and Science Study with a U.S. sample of more than 10,000 students. Findings show the complexity of the factors contributing to mathematics performance. (SLD)

Examines the implementation and utility of the blocked longitudinal growth method (BLGM) to understand math course placement practices in junior high schools in one district. Found that movement away from a conventional and normative approach to a more flexible approach based on growth in math skills seems to be supported. (Author/MLF)

Investigated the effects of student motivation, attitude, and academic engagement on eighth graders' mathematics and science achievement. Data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 supported the positive effects of the two motivation factors, attitude, and academic time on mathematics and science achievement. The strongest effects…

How the organization of U.S. high school mathematics curriculum affects how much students learn was studied with data from 123 schools in the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Results indicate that students learn more in schools that offer a narrow curriculum of mostly academic courses. (SLD)

Reports on the results of the reform curriculum of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project's elementary curriculum, Everyday Mathematics, for third-grade students. Results included the fact that only 2% of UCSMP students failed to meet state goals. UCSMP students also scored well in all mathematical areas including number skills and…