A study compared the performance of rural and urban Western Australian students on the college-entrance mathematics examination following introduction of graphics calculators. Although urban students scored higher than rural students in the 3 years studied, the gap remained relatively consistent, indicating that rural students were not further…

Compares immersion and non-immersion students' results on provincial Grade 3 tests in Ottawa in 1998-99. Explores the results by immersion type--according to the grade at which English literacy instruction is introduced, and the proportion of instructional time in English. Results corroborate those of large-scale evaluation studies of French…

Background: Since the early 1980s, there has been a growing interest in the potentiality of computers as facilitators of students' learning. The importance of using technology effectively as a learning tool has been emphasized by many researchers. However, finding good software that encourages pupils to explore and express mathematical ideas is…

Self-concept ratings of children with mathematics disabilities (MD), average mathematics achievement (AA), and high mathematics achievement (HA) who attended regular classes in grades 4 through 6 were compared. Twenty-four children in each group, who were selected from an original pool of 811 children, and who were matched one-to-one by grade,…

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effects of student-related variables on achievement in mathematics. The sample consisted of 3736 13-year-old Jordanian 8th-graders who participated in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). The participants completed a student questionnaire and participated in the…

Using data from the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress, this analysis compared mathematics achievement in public, charter, and major types of private schools to examine whether disparities in achievement are due to differences in school performance or student demographics in various sectors. Hierarchical linear models were used to…

In this article we describe gender gaps in mathematics achievement and attitude as measured by the U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) from 1990 to 2003. Analyzing relationships among achievement and mathematical content, student proficiency and percentile levels, race, and socioeconomic status (SES), we found that gender gaps…

How has No Child Left Behind (NCLB) affected you, your students, or your school? Educational Leadership wanted to know so we asked readers to tell us their stories. Some respondents questioned whether NCLB acknowledged the true purpose of education, many bemoan the seeming necessity of having to "teach to the test," and some have…

This study extends previous research examining the relations between Cattell-Horn-Carroll cognitive abilities and math achievement. The cognitive profiles of children with normative weaknesses in Math Calculation Skills or Math Reasoning were compared to those of their average-achieving peers. The cognitive profile of the low Math Calculation…

This paper reports the results of a special urban study of the 2005 National Assessment of Education Progress which indicates that city school districts may be seeing some payoff from years of work to improve mathematics instruction. However, similar initiatives to raise reading achievement have not led to significant gains. While, most of the 11…

Effects of inclusive school settings for students in six Indiana school corporations were investigated. Results reveal that students without disabilities educated in inclusive settings made significantly greater academic progress in mathematics and reading. For students with disabilities, there were no significant differences in reading and math…

Using data from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the NICHD Early Child Care Research Network (ECCRN) constructed a structural model predicting reading and mathematics achievement in first-grade children from parenting, child-care, and first-grade schooling…

Project EXCITE is a collaborative program of a university-based gifted center and local school districts designed to prepare gifted minority elementary and middle school students for advanced tracks in math and science in high school. This paper describes the characteristics and components of the EXCITE program and gives data regarding the…

National and international studies have made student performance in mathematics a high priority in schools. Using longitudinal data from elementary and secondary schools, the authors examined the connections between specific family and community involvement activities and student achievement in mathematics at the school level. After the authors…

Realizing the importance of teaching efficiency at early stages of the program of study in computer science (CS) on one hand, and the difficulties encountered when introducing this concept on the other, we advocate a different didactic approach in the introductory CS course (CS1). This paper describes the approach as it is used at the Open…