Students have difficulty learning fractions, and problems in understanding fractions persist into adulthood, with moderate to severe consequences for everyday and occupational decision-making. Remediation of student misconceptions is hampered by deficiencies in teachers' knowledge of the discipline and pedagogical content knowledge. We theorized…

Studies incorporating technology into the teaching of trigonometry, although sparse, have demonstrated positive effects on student achievement. The optimal sequence for integrating technology with teacher-led mathematics instruction has not been determined. Our research investigated whether technology has a greater impact on student achievement…

This study examined the impact of explanation seeking on the achievement and attitudes of students in grades 7-10 learning to solve correlational reasoning problems in a cooperative learning setting. Results provided little support for explanation seeking as an achievement strategy due to students' inability to recognize when they needed help and…

Examined patterns of giving and receiving explanations in three mixed-ability student groups (grades 7-10) working on problem-solving tasks. Groups were modeled after the cooperative learning approach, Student-Teams Achievement Divisions. Students infrequently sought explanations or received inadequate explanations, and explanation givers did not…

Recent research demonstrates that in many countries gender differences in mathematics achievement have virtually disappeared. Expectancy-value theory and social cognition theory both predict that if gender differences in achievement have declined there should be a similar decline in gender differences in self-beliefs. Extant literature is…

The authors extend findings from qualitative research on the effects of action research by reporting two linked quantitative studies (N = 80 and 105). They found that teachers who participated in collaborative action research experienced statistically significant improvements in attitudes to educational research and teacher efficacy. The pre-post…

The authors conducted a third-party study of the student achievement effects of Struggling Schools, a user-generated approach to Comprehensive School Reform (CSR). The design was a quasiexperimental, pre-post matched sample (N = 180) with school as unit of analysis, drawing on 3 years of achievement data from standardized external assessments.…

Researchers have used children's self-reports to investigate the conditions under which children seek and give help. Little attention has been given to examining the predictive value of such measures, even though investigators in other domains have found discrepancies between self-reports and observed behavior. Two studies were conducted in which…

Previous research (e.g., Woodward & Baxter, 1997) found that Standards-based mathematics teaching provides marginal or no benefits for low achievers, in contrast with positive effects for middle and high ability students. A randomized quasi-experiment in 52 Canadian schools found that low achieving grade 7 and 8 students who received support…

An instructional program to improve adolescent student mastery of real-life decision-making skills produced very positive results in terms of teacher comfort with the program and increased student performance. Five core skills for decision-making were the basis of the program: identification, selection and assessment of decision criteria,…

Transformational leadership researchers have given little attention to teacher expectations that mediate between goals and actions. The most important of these expectations, teacher efficacy, refers to teacher beliefs that they will be able to bring about student learning. This study examined the mediating effects of teacher efficacy by comparing…

Compares a school that integrated mathematics, science, and technology in grade nine to a school in the same district that taught the same courses separately. Discusses the benefits of an integrated-learning setting for the students. Contains 31 references. (DDR)

This paper draws on chaos theory to examine the potential of change within a living community. It focuses on secondary-school change in order to consider the divergent paths and the unexpected cultural adaptations that emerged when a Canadian school district required its secondary schools to revise their organizational models. Department heads…