Fordham Report
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation is a nonprofit organization that conducts research and studies on elementary and secondary education. In 2005, the Fordham Foundation issued findings from a study of math standards in each state. In the study, all states are rated using the same criteria: the clarity, content and sound mathematical reasoning of the […]
TIMSS: Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 2003
This international study performed mathematical assessments on fourth and eighth grade students in participating countries. The assessments were also performed in 1995 (fourth and eighth grades) and 1999 (eighth grade only). The 2003 study also tracks trends in student performance based on the findings in the previous studies.
Students in the United States fared above the […]
Quality Math Curriculum in Support of Effective Teaching for Elementary Schools
In 1998, California adopted new standards, devised by mathematics professors at Stanford University, for the mathematics education of its elementary students. Based on standards used in Singapore, Japan, and Poland, they feature a greatly reduced number of topics in the early grades and more demanding topics in the middle grades.
Four urban California school districts […]
The Effects of Direct Instruction and Discovery Learning
The findings of this study conducted by David Klahr from the Department of Psychology at Carnegie Mellon University and Milena Nigam from the Center for Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh concluded that many more children learned from direct instruction over discovery learning.
Read the report:
The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science […]
An Analysis of Failure of Minimal Guidance Math Programs
Authors Paul Kirschner, John Sweller and Richard Clark put forth evidence based on the human cognitive architecture. They conclude “the past half-century of empirical research on this issue has provided overwhelming and unambiguous evidence that minimal guidance during instruction is significantly less effective and efficient than guidance specifically designed to support the cognitive processing necessary […]
What Is Important in School Mathematics
A group of twelve mathematicians called the Mathematics Standards Study Group (MSSG) concludes that there are five fundamental principals for school mathematics instruction.
Whole number arithmetic and the place value system are the foundation for school mathematics with most other mathematical strands evolving from this foundation. This foundation should be the subject of most instruction in […]
US Performance in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving
The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) performed a study in 2003. The results indicated that performance in mathematics literacy and problem solving was lower than the average performance for most OECD countries. The United States also performed below the OECD average on each mathematics literacy subscale representing a specific content area (space and shape, […]
California: Successful Math Curricula Produce Successful Students
California’s successful adoption of math standards contrary to reform math curricula provides a working study of the success of the different philosophies on math instruction in America.
Learn more about California’s Math Story:
Evaluating Entry Level Mathematics Placement in the California State University System by Paul Clopton and R. James Milgram, April 1999.
L.A.’s Math Program […]
Parents’ Math Group Says Test Results Distorted, Bill Evers, HOLD; April 1995.
California Raises Math Standards
Fuzzy Math in California, Mathematically Correct Website.
Mathematically Correct – California Issues, Mathematically Correct Website.
“Four Years of California Mathematics Progress,” William Bishop, Teach Utah Kids Website.
California’s Algebra Crisis, Williamson Evers, Hoover Institution Website.
CA Students Ranked at the bottom of National Math Testing
California Teacher Training Bias Puts Politically Correct Methods over Proven Methodology, Pacific Research Institute Website.
