Investigates the relationship between the strategies used by preservice elementary teachers in geometric problem solving and two primary mental abilities--spatial visualization and formal reasoning. Reports that the two abilities were related to problem-solving performance, and the strategies used were related to achievement in the geometry…

Discusses the problems American students have learning math. Describes the new learning in mathematics that synthesizes new content and methods that restructure the curriculum in a way that resolves design and quality control problems. Presents examples of effective programs. (JS)

Describes Suinn Mathematics Anxiety Rating Scale, Elementary Form (MARS-E) with sample of 105 Hispanic students. Correlating MARS-E scores with mathematics scores on Stanford Achievement Test (SAT) shows similarities in mathematics anxiety between Hispanics and normative non-Hispanics but Hispanics scored lower on SAT. Recommends additional…

Describes the PrIME working group experience. Provides three problems on combination and typical answers from primary school students. Discusses some findings. (YP)

Fourteen essays on the National Assessment of Educational Progress offer a broad, systematic examination of technical and policy issues in national-level assessments. Topics include reading and mathematics trends, quality control, national achievement trends, state-level implementation and reporting, and federal review panel responses. (TJH)

Outlines the "Project Hands-on Math" developed in Georgia. Describes the five objectives, developmental phases, implementation, and evaluation of the project. Lists concrete manipulative materials used in this project. (YP)

Presents survey results from freshman engineering students at Colorado State University. Identifies the highest levels of math and computer courses taken. Notes although most students took high school calculus, 48 percent failed the college's analytical trigonometry examination. Develops practical ideas for the future. (MVL)

How children give meaning to problems solved by multiplying or dividing is considered. After showing two cases of children's understanding of multiplication problems, six recommendations for classroom practice are presented. (YP)

Examined validity of American College Testing (ACT) Program test scores and self-reported high school grades for predicting grades in 12 types of college freshman courses in English and mathematics in 277 colleges. Found predictions based on ACT scores alone yielded similar or higher median multiple correlations than predictions based on high…

Discussed are trends in performance across the last three National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) mathematics assessments for students in grades 7 and 11, and reports on indicators of instructional activity. The results suggest that achievement in mathematics has taken a modest upturn in the 1980s. (MNS)

The relationships among intelligence, field dependence, sex role, and mathematics background and achievement were examined in a study involving 287 college students. Number of math courses taken and intelligence were the best predictors of math achievement, although other variables also influenced achievement. (TJH)

A study involving 215 hearing-impaired students and 63 mathematics teachers concluded that student background factors and the quality of instruction a hearing-impaired student receives are primary determinants of achievement in mainstreamed settings. Mainstreaming with an interpreter was found to have no specific effect on achievement for…

Use of probes and data-logging software to introduce dynamic line graphs to young children in the context of science investigations found this approach facilitated effective use of line graphs as models of relationships between variables. (Author/MKR)

The relationship between gender and mathematical achievement was investigated in 440 female and 480 male Norwegian third graders. Boys had higher test scores, but the effect size was small. Boys performed better in numeracy, mental arithmetic, and measurement problems. Marked gender differences were found at extreme tails of the distribution.…

Using data from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, this research investigated whether ability grouping level magnifies the effects of background differences on mathematics achievement for eighth-grade public school students. Students in high-ability groups viewed math more positively, exhibited more appropriate behavior in math class,…