Research on Reform in Mathematics Education, 1993-2000

Proponents and opponents of reform of mathematics education all cite the research base in support of their positions. This article reports the results of a review of studies that contained empirical evidence of the effects of reform or the difficulty of implementing reform that were published between 1993 and 2000. The studies reviewed indicate that implementation of math reform contributes to student achievement, but evidence abounds of superficial implementation and barriers to enactment. There are well-documented strategies for reducing these barriers, the most promising strategies being inservice that simultaneously focuses on teachers' practice and their cognition about mathematics teaching.Promoteurs et adversaires d'une réforme en enseignement des mathématiques puisent tous dans la recherche pour appuyer leurs points de vue. Cet article présente le résultat d'une analyse d'études empiriques publiées entre 1993 et 2000 et qui évoquent les effets d'une réforme ou la difficulté d'en mettre une en application. Selon les études analysées, la mise en œuvre d'une réforme en enseignement des mathématiques contribue aux réalisations des élèves. Toutefois, énormément d'articles évoquent une mise en œuvre superficielle et des obstacles à la réforme. Parmi les stratégies bien documentées pour minimiser ces obstacles, celles qui promettent le plus impliquent une formation pour enseignants en cours d'emploi qui touche à la fois les méthodes des enseignants et leurs connaissances sur l'enseignement des mathématiques

Integrating mathematics, science, and technology: Effects on students

*Corresponding author: Professor & Head OISE Trent Valley Centre Box 719, 150 O’Carroll Avenue Peterborough Ontario, K9J 7A1Few studies have examined the student learning effects of integrating science with mathematics and technology. We compared a school that integrated mathematics, science, and technology in grade 9 to a school in the same district that taught the three courses separately. The distinguishing feature of the integrating school was the reorganization of instruction in the three subjects to prepare students for seven group projects (involving a total of 25 hours) that required the application of knowledge and skill that were shared by the three subjects as well as learning outcomes that were unique to each. The study detected benefits for students in the integrated setting in terms of their ability to apply shared learning outcomes, student motivation, ability to work together, and attitudes to appraisal of group work. Female students in the integrated school had a better understanding of selected science learning outcomes. Attitudes toward mid-term exams were higher in the control school.Funding for the research was provided by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry, the Council, or the schools

Student self-evaluation in grade 5-6 mathematics: Effects on problem-solving achievement

*Corresponding Author OISE/UT Trent Valley Centre, Box 719, 633 Monaghan Rd. S. Peterborough, ON K9J 7A1 CANADAWe examined the effects of self-evaluation training on mathematics achievement. When Grade 5-6 students self-evaluated for 12 weeks (N=259 treatment, 257 control) treatment students outperformed controls (ES=.40). The findings contribute to the consequential validity argument for self-evaluation. Considered in the context of previous research, these results indicate that subject moderates the effects of self-evaluation on achievement.This research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Education. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council or the Ministry. An earlier version of the article study was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Seattle, April 2001. We thank the teachers and students of Durham Catholic District School Board for their assistance

Skills training versus action research in-service: Impact on student attitudes to self-evaluation

*corresponding author, John A. Ros OISE/UT Trent Valley Centre, Box 719, 150 O’Carroll Ave., Peterborough, Ontario K9J 7A1 CANADA [email protected] in 23 classes in one district were randomly assigned to two frequently used professional development methods. In the skills training treatment expert presenters provided strategies for teaching students how to evaluate their work. Teachers received three training workshops, a handbook of resources (containing case studies, strategies, and student self-evaluation instruments), two half-days of in-school release time, and information about the beliefs of their students about self-evaluation. Teachers were expected to implement the strategies presented. In the action research treatment teachers received the same resources but the in-service sessions emphasized the process used by a previous group of (CLEAR) teachers to improve their use of student self-evaluation. The CLEAR teachers delivered most of the in-service and acted as mentors to the teachers in the action research condition. Pre- and post-test student surveys and interviews indicated that the action research condition made a more positive contribution to student attitudes toward self-evaluation than the skills training condition. The advantage of the action research condition was attributed to (1) sharing control in the in-service provided a better model of sharing control in the classroom, and (2) the handbook examples provided to teachers in both conditions were generated in earlier action research projects, making the information more accessible to teachers in the action research condition. The modest student impact of the treatments was attributable to the neglect of student cognitions about self-evaluation in the classroom, the short duration of the project (8 weeks) and the dilution of effects through rotary timetables.The research was funded by the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Durham Board of Education. The views expressed in the paper are not necessarily those of the Ministry, Council, or Board. An earlier version was presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, March, 1997. The authors wish to thank Durham teachers who collaborated in the research: Barb Bower, Michelle Ferreira, Sharon Hopkins, Cheryl Hoyle, Anne Marie Laginski, and Dianne Serra. Administrative support was provided by Jim Craigen, Bev Freedman, Norm Green, Brian Greenway, and Don Real

Influences on student cognitions about evaluation

*corresponding author Dr. John A. Ross Professor & Field Centre Head OISE/UT Trent Valley Centre Box 719, 633 Monaghan Rd S. Peterborough, ON K9J 7A1 CANADAInterviews on two occasions with 71 grade 2, 4, and 6 students in a multi-ethnic setting in Toronto, Canada found that student cognitions about evaluation mediated the relationship between evaluation and achievement. Parents, peers, and student characteristics influenced student cognitions about evaluation. Parents identified the evaluation dimensions their children should attend to, raised student aspirations, stated how well student work attained standards, and recommended actions children should take in response to the evaluation. Peer interpretations influenced whether a given performance was viewed as superior or inferior. Older student peers focused attention, to a greater extent than parents, on specific aspects of student performance that could be ameliorated through self-remediation. Children became more sophisticated evaluation consumers as they grew older. Females processed evaluation data more productively than males. There were few cultural differences in response to evaluation. Students responded to traditional and alternate evaluation in very similar ways.The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The views expressed in the article are not necessarily those of the Council

Effect of self-evaluation on narrative writing

*Corresponding author Dr. John A. Ross, Professor & Head, OISE/UT Trent Valley Centre, Box 719, 150 O’Carroll Ave., Peterborough, ON K9J 7A1 CANADADespite the burgeoning use of alternate assessment, few studies have examined effects on students. In this study, 148 students in 15 grade 4-6 classrooms were taught over an 8-week period how to evaluate their work (control N=148). Treatment group students became more accurate in their self-evaluations than controls. Contrary to the beliefs of many students, parents and teachers, students’ propensity to inflate grades decreased when teachers shared assessment responsibility. Treatment students also outperformed controls on narrative writing but the overall effect was small (ES=.18). Weaker writers improved their writing much more if they were in the treatment than the control group (ES=.58). Improvements consisted of increasing integration of story elements around a central theme and the adoption of a narrative voice. In contrast conventions of language were relatively unchanged. The results of the treatment were attributed to the focusing effect of joint criteria development and use, and to the heightened meaningfulness of self-evaluation over other assessment data.The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Council, the Ontario Ministry of Education, and Durham Region District Board. The views expressed in the report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Council, the Ministry or the school district

Student evaluation in cooperative learning: Teacher cognitions

*Corresponding Author: John A. Ross OISE/UT Trent Valley Centre Box 719, 150 O'Carroll Avenue Peterborough, Ontario, Canada K9J 7A1 e-mail: [email protected] evaluation procedures used by Cooperative Learning [CL] teachers, and their feelings about them, have rarely been investigated. This interview study of 13 exemplary users of CL methods found that negative feelings ran through teachers' cognitions about evaluation: expressions of guilt, anxiety and uncertainty were frequent. There was a substantial gap between private and public knowledge. When individual insights were assembled in a composite picture, generic strategies emerged, for example, for teaching students their role in self-evaluation. In this study the mechanisms for making private knowledge public were weak. This deficiency was subsequently addressed by the teacher-researchers involved in this study in a series of action research projects.The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training, and the Durham Board of Education. The views expressed in this paper are not necessarily those of the Council, the Ministry or the Board. The authors would particularly like to thank the teachers and administrators in the Durham Board of Education who contributed their insights to the issues reported here and Carolyn Brioux who transcribed the interviews. An earlier version of this article was presented at the annual meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education in Montreal, June 1995

The impact of a professional development program on student achievement in grade 6 mathematics

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comGrade 6 teachers (N=106) in one school district were randomly assigned to early or late professional development (PD) groups. The program focused on reform communication and incorporated principles of effective PD recommended by researchers, although the duration of the treatment was modest (one full day and four after school sessions over a ten-week period). At the posttest, there were no statistically significant differences in student achievement. Although it could be argued that the result demonstrates that PD resources should be redirected to more intensive PD delivered over longer periods, we claimed that the PD was assessed prematurely. After the completion of the study, the external assessments administered by the province showed a significant increase in student achievement from one year to the next involving both the early and late treatment groups, an increase that was not found for the same students in other subjects. The study had high ecological validity: it was delivered by district curriculum staff to all grade 6 teachers, volunteers and conscripts alike. The cost to the district, less than CAN$14 [9 euros] per student, was comparable to the modest expenditures typically available for professional development in Canadian school districts

Research on Reform in Mathematics Education, 1993-2000

Proponents and opponents of reform of mathematics education all cite the research base in support of their positions. This article reports the results of a review of studies that contained empirical evidence of the effects of reform or the difficulty of implementing reform that were published between 1993 and 2000. The studies reviewed indicate that implementation of math reform contributes to student achievement, but evidence abounds of superficial implementation and barriers to enactment. There are well-documented strategies for reducing these barriers, the most promising strategies being inservice that simultaneously focuses on teachers' practice and their cognition about mathematics teaching

Hypermethylation of PTGER2 Confers Prostaglandin E2 Resistance in Fibrotic Fibroblasts from Humans and Mice

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89995/1/white-hypermethylation_ptger2_confers.pd