This report shows how well educators across the United States have increased access to the types of rich academic experiences that prepare students for success in college. By combining national, state and AP (Advanced Placement) data, this report provides educators and policymakers with information they can use to celebrate their successes,…

The National Institute of School Leadership's (NISL's) Executive Development Program (EDP) was established to provide professional development to school leaders to drive their schools to high performance. The program emphasizes the role of principals as strategic thinkers, instructional leaders, and creators of a just, fair, and caring culture in…

This is an abridged, summary report of selected findings from "Pieces of the Puzzle: Factors in the Improvement of Urban School Districts on the National Assessment of Educational Progress"--a comprehensive study prepared by the Council of the Great City Schools in collaboration with the American Institutes for Research (AIR) and with…

"The Electric Company" ("TEC") television show won the hearts of children because it made learning fun. Thirty years later, the iconic show has returned with the goal of not only teaching literacy, but also numeracy (the ability to work with and understand numbers) and mathematics vocabulary in a fun, entertaining, and engaging…

At the University of Southwestern Louisiana, an innovative course in college mathematics, Math 107, was designed to place mathematics into the context of everyday life and to use concepts from several disciplines within mathematics including algebra, geometry, statistics, probability, and data analysis. Inherent within the teaching of Math 107 was…

This volume is concerned with the alignment between the way the mathematical performance of students is assessed and the reform agenda in school mathematics. The chapters in this book have been prepared to raise a set of issues that scholars are addressing during this period of transition from traditional schooling practices toward the reform…

Mandler's (1984) model of emotion is summarized in this paper and is operatonalized analytically and statistically using Thom's (1975) catastrophe theory. Data were collected from (n=15) mathematics majors in a pilot study to test Mandler's model and the nonlinear effects of emotions in solving mathematical problems. The data were found to fit…

This study used a structural equation paradigm to investigate the effects of self-regulated learning, self-efficacy, learning goal orientation, and worry on high-stakes mathematics achievement in a sample of (n=144) mathematically gifted high school students in southern California. Sex and prior math achievement (the Mathematics-Scholastic…

Multi-line-multi-operation calculators such as the TI-80 provide eighth-grade prealgebra and algebra students with significantly better computational tools for basic order-of-operation problems involving integers and signed rational numbers than do calculators offering only last-entry-or-result displays. Effects are more apparent for weaker…

The aim of the third National Education Goal is for all U.S. students to be competent in academic subject matter. The aim of the fifth National Education Goal is for U.S. students to perform at world-class levels in mathematics and science. The purpose of this report is to summarize the amount of progress that each state has made in raising…

This report addresses two related issues. First, it summarizes the past international studies of mathematics and science, describing each study and its primary results. In place of country by country performance rankings, the report presents the average performance for each country accompanied by an estimate of the statistical error circumscribing…

This document discusses an academic achievement study of selected Garvey School District students (N=179) as reflected on the CTBS (Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills) scores of first-grade students at elementary school sites and covering a period of 6 school years starting with 1980-81. Findings compare (1) achievement in reading scale scores…

Reported are results of a study of a sample of 259 students at the University of Massachusetts who scored low on a math placement test and later took precalculus math classes. Several possible conclusions are presented to explain the test results. A significantly higher percentage (p<.05) of a remedial sample (compared to a non-remedial sample)…

The potential for school improvement in schools and districts that score well above state and national averages was explored. Based on elementary reading and mathematics data from a collaborating district, it appears that a three-step school improvement logic can effect improvements in "good" schools. The first step is to collect…

The second year of operation of the Transition Program for Refugee Children (T.P.R.C.) is evaluated in this report. The program provides classes in English as a Second Language (E.S.L.) or content area instruction with an E.S.L. approach specifically designed to improve students' English language listening, speaking, reading, and writing…