This study examined 361 Chinese and 345 Singaporean sixth-grade students' performance and problem-solving strategies for solving 14 problems about speed. By focusing on students from two distinct high-performing countries in East Asia, we provide a useful perspective on the differences that exist in the preparation and problem-solving strategies…

To develop second-grade students' confidence and ease, this author presents examples of learning tasks (Number of the Day, Word Problem Solving, and Modeling New Mathematical Ideas) that align with Common Core State Standards for Mathematics and that build mathematical fluency to promote students' creative expression of mathematical…

In this article we explore approaches to curriculum in the primary school in order to map and manage the omissions implicit in the current unfolding of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement for mathematics. The focus of school-based research has been on curriculum coverage and cognitive depth. To address the challenges of teaching…

Mathematics is the study of structure but students think of math as solving problems according to rules. Students can learn procedures, but they often have trouble knowing when to apply learned procedures, especially to problems unlike those they trained with. In this study, the authors rely on the psychological mechanism of perceptual learning…

Teachers' knowledge of the early algebra content that is to be taught is crucial for effective pedagogy and ensuring that the students' understanding of early algebra is not flawed. This article reports the findings of two of the activities that a group of in-service teachers participated in during a professional learning intervention program that…

Research findings have established that students often struggle with mathematical symbols including common misconceptions for literal symbolic representations of variables but provide little evidence of when or how these misconceptions arise. This article reports findings from a study of grade 4-6 students' conception(s) for various…

The focus of the present synthesis reflects the research on programs, practices, and policies intended to improve mathematics outcomes funded through the Institute of Education Sciences' (IES's) National Center for Education Research (NCER) and National Center for Special Education Research (NCSER). The authors were asked to review those published…

Many studies of school achievement find a significant association between reading and arithmetic achievement. The magnitude of the association varies widely across the studies, but the sources of this variation have not been identified. The purpose of this paper is to examine the magnitude and determinants of the relation between arithmetic and…

This study investigated the roles of different executive function (EF) components (inhibition, shifting, and working memory) in 2-step arithmetic word problem solving. A sample of 139 children aged 8 years old and regularly attending the 3rd grade of primary school were tested on 6 EF tasks measuring different EF components, a reading task and a…

Although clinical practitioners often express concerns about the mathematical functioning of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the field of mathematics remains a relatively unexplored topic in individuals with ASD. Moreover, research findings are fragmentary and hold inconclusive results. The present study aimed to examine whether…

This study investigates whether word problems and mathematically expressed items can be used interchangeably regardless of their linguistic complexities. A sample of sixth grade students was given two forms of a mathematics assessment. The first form included mathematics items with mathematical terms, expressions, and equations whereas the second…

Mathematics-related beliefs play an important role in the willingness to engage in academic activities in mathematics education. Such beliefs might not be consistent with the beliefs students hold about context problems that require sufficient mathematical knowledge and the application of such knowledge to various real-life situations. This study…

Ratio and proportional reasoning tasks abound that have connections to real-world situations. Examples in this article demonstrate how textbook tasks can easily be transformed into authentic real-world problems that shed light on issues of equity and fairness, such as population growth and crime rates. A few ideas are presented on how teachers can…

Students taking developmental mathematics courses resist attempting word problems when they are presented to them. Although word problems can help students contextualize learning, develop better understanding of the concepts and apply world knowledge, they constitute an impediment to students' progress in developmental mathematics courses. A…

This study explores the "language repair strategies" (aimed at repairing communication problems) of two bilingual speakers during mathematics word problem tutoring sessions. Bilingual repair was shown to gradually shift from a linguistic to an epistemic focus during problem solving (i.e., communication became more conceptually focused…