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- Students currently in school will face a world that requires intelligent decisions based on mathematical understandings.
- As a universal language, math is an important part of cultural literacy.
- Math instruction may be broken down into three different areas: content, processing, and practical application.
- Math content includes numbers, operations, patterns, functions, algebra, geometry, and spatial sense.
- Math processes include problem solving, reasoning, proof, communications, connections, and representations.
- Math application involves using math in everyday, non school settings.
- The National Council for Teachers of Mathematics developed 10 standards and benchmarks that address learning math content and processes.
- Language plays a critical role in the understanding of numbers and number concepts.
- Students construct their own meaning of math in formal and informal settings.
- Many students perform far below their peers in math and may plateau in acquisition of math skills by seventh grade.
- Difficulties in math achievement result from many factors including memory problems, spatial deficits, language difficulties, and reading problems.
- Students with math difficulties may become frustrated and unmotivated to make serious attempts to learn math.
- Students with a history of math failure may develop learned helplessness rather than attempting to use their own skills.
- Direct instruction lessons present skills in a logical sequence and provide practice for students to develop skills.
- Direct instruction is an effective tool for increasing skills in math content areas.
- Commercially available programs provide drill and practice exercises compatible with direct instruction.
- Teachers should examine drill and practice programs for their capability to be interactive, and to provide accurate information and feedback, as well as learner control.
- Of all qualities contained in drill and practice programs, feedback and vocal interaction may be the most critical for student skill development.
- Research examining effective instruction shows the greatest gains among students participating in teacher and computer-assisted instruction.
- Curriculum-based measurement allows teachers to make judgments about intervention effectiveness by integrating consistent measurement with observational information.
- A review of the research shows that effective teacher use of curriculum-based measurement increases students' performance in academic areas.
- Teachers may use spreadsheet programs to develop charts needed to reflect outcomes of curriculum-based measurement exercises.
- Word processing and spreadsheet programs are useful for developing assessment templates, creating feedback for students and their parents and managing student data.
- Students participating in Computer Intensive Algebra achieved better results on a standardized math assessment than their peers participating in a teacher-based instructional program.
- Teachers can use hypermedia to construct their own instructional programs.
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