The Hunter Javits Collaborative Project to identify and support mathematics talent of urban students is described. Program components include weekly seminars for students with teacher mentors, a summer institute, teacher professional development, and parent involvement. Characteristics and outcomes for the 45 elementary and high school student…

Reports the results from a longitudinal cohort analysis of achievement among elementary magnet students, neighborhood school students, and predominantly black transfer students in one urban district with a school choice program. Two successive cohorts of students were compared on achievement scores. Results indicated magnet students generally had…

Examines curriculum and achievement in the United States and Japan in seventh and eighth grade algebra and twelfth grade elementary functions and calculus using data from the Second International Mathematics Study (SIMS). Results suggest that U.S. curricula do not match the SIMS as well as do Japanese curricula. (SLD)

Reported is a two-part study to identify factors that contribute to student success in a remedial mathematics course for first-year college students. Data from 263 students testing into remedial algebra was collected on 3 academic variables, 2 affective variables, and class attendance. Multivariate analysis results failed to find moderate…

A recent structural model suggesting that nine factors exerted effects on seventh grade students' mathematics achievement and attitude was further tested with a national sample of 2,500 tenth grade mathematics students. The structural model, evolved and cross-validated with the younger sample, significantly accounted for variance in mathematics…

A procedure is presented for examining the influence of instruction on responses to test items by extending item response theory to incorporate variables illustrating different amounts of opportunity to learn. Data from the Second International Mathematics Study (grade 8 scores for about 7,000 students) illustrate the discussion. (SLD)

Structural equation modeling was used to assess the influence of past mathematics grades, performance expectancies, and value perceptions on math anxiety of 250 seventh through ninth graders. The importance of these variables for grades and course selection was also studied. Results are discussed concerning expectancy-value and self-efficacy…

To examine the relationship between expectancies and values and their contributions to achievement, 153 seventh graders (54 males and 99 females) completed multiple measures of expectancy and value. Expectancies and values contributed to achievement, and the constructs for both were positively correlated. Differences between males and females are…

Identified by a study of mathematically precocious youth, 107 academically accelerated gifted students were compared with 107 nonacademically accelerated gifted students. At age 23-25 years, the 2 subject groups exhibited few significant differences, and no evidence of harmful effects of academic acceleration were found. (SLD)

Gender differences in college grades in first-year mathematics (algebra, precalculus, or calculus) and Scholastic Aptitude Test Mathematics (SAT-M) scores were studied for about 7,000 men and 5,000 women. Gender differences favoring women in grades and men in SAT-M scores cannot be explained in terms of differential course selection. (SLD)

Associations between performance-oriented and structure-oriented tasks in elementary school mathematics instruction and achievement were studied for 33 third grade classrooms. A mathematics pretest and posttest were administered, and classroom observations were conducted. Results suggest that performance-oriented tasks promote automatization of…

This study examined the benefits to teachers who used impromptu writing prompts in first- and second-year algebra classes. Interpretive research methodology was used to collect and analyze data. Concluded that teachers' assessment of students' understanding was enhanced by reading their students' responses to impromptu writing prompts, thus…

Examined cognitive processing and performance of 12 average seventh-grade students during cooperative problem solving. Factors that impeded performance included lack of an experiential framework, imposition of unrequired restrictions, lack of individual monitoring of cognitive activity, and unproductive beliefs. Factors that enhanced performance…

Examined ethnic similarities and differences in children's perceptions of their parents' educational socialization practices and attributions for success and failure, and the impact of these variables on mathematics achievement in a sample of 591 poor fifth and sixth graders. Discusses findings of ethnic differences in terms of the culture and…

Describes research on the development of a measure of student metacognition. The brief, domain-independent measure serves as a collateral measure in construct validation, supporting exploration of the self-regulatory demands of performance assessment. Results show that metacognition can be directly and explicitly measured in the context of…