Provides a review of the literature related to math anxiety, indicating that society needs to eradicate the myth that females are more anxious about mathematics than males. Several options for eliminating math avoidance and math anxiety are considered. (JN)

Focusing on innovative forms of assessment in the United Kingdom, this article describes assessment strategies in mathematics, "oracy," science, and foreign languages. These strategies include not only problems in which students select a correct answer, but also practical problems in which students supply answers to open ended tasks.…

Fourth-grade students in Title I mathematics took 40-problem tests to determine types of persistent errors made in addition and subtraction. Tests, administered to 117 students (addition) and 104 students (subtraction), were analyzed for basic fact, random, or procedural errors. Findings are reported and discussed, and recommendations for…

This article examines the incidence of academic deficiency and functional illiteracy among offenders in a postsecondary prison education program. A descriptive analysis was conducted using aptitude test scores on reading, math, and language from 488 students in a medium security prison in Ohio. Results are presented and analyzed. (CT)

A review of research literature on the mathematics education of Asian-American students indicates that their achievement in mathematics has been relatively high. However, the effects of the recent wave of immigration from Asia have not been identified. (MNS)

Test scores are among the many ways to find out how well a child is doing in school. Test scores allow parents to compare their child's performance with that of other students in the same grade at the school and with other students across North Carolina. However, test scores should always be considered along with all other available information…

To ensure all students have every opportunity to succeed, Indiana adopted world-class academic standards in English-language arts, mathematics, science, and social studies and an assessment system to measure student progress. These standards clearly outline what students should know and be able to do in each subject, at each grade level. This…

One of the aims of mathematics instruction is to achieve the understanding of mathematical concepts through the development of rich and well organized cognitive representations (Goldin, 1998; NCTM, 2000; DeWindt-King, & Goldin, 2003). In this study the term representation is interpreted as the tool used for representing mathematical ideas such…

American research involving mathematically underachieving populations is grappling with many theoretical and empirical issues at present. In this talk, I hope to present three such issues; while, of course, the theoretical debates and research findings are much more nuanced than can be presented in a short paper, my goal is to provide the…

The document presents the results of state mandated assessment in the primary grades in the Wake County Public Schools, North Carolina. The North Carolina State Board of Education has mandated that school districts implement assessments at kindergarten, first, and second grades using state-developed materials, adaptations of those materials, or…

Analysis of student achievement data following the introduction of graphics calculators to tertiary entrance examinations in mathematics in Western Australia suggests the possibility of an equity problem between the sexes in their usage. While males out-performed females in a number of categories, the most conclusive evidence emerged in questions…

The effects of gender, math achievement, and ethnicity on attitudes toward mathematics were examined using an inventory called Attitudes toward Mathematics Instrument (ATMI). The inventory was completed by 545 students at a college preparatory bilingual school in Mexico City. Data were analyzed using a multivariate factorial model with four…

This report presents a new analysis of student achievement scores and educational progress for states on the National Assessment of Educational Progress. Results based on score quartiles show that states are generally making more progress in mathematics achievement than in reading, good readers are getting better at the same time weak readers are…

This report describes one of a series of pilot studies that were conducted to evaluate the instructional effectiveness of the Harcourt Math Program. Harcourt School Publishers (HSP) contracted with the Educational Research Institute of America (ERIA) to conduct a series of independent pilot studies to evaluate the effectiveness of the Harcourt…

This report examines trends in student learning. Using data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, the first section reports on current trends in reading and mathematics test scores, highlighting arithmetic and noting that student's computation skills have stagnated or declined in recent years. The second section revisits the…