Strengthening Grade 3-5 Students' Foundational Knowledge of Rational Numbers

Autor/inn/en	Good, Thomas L.; Wood, Marcy B.; Sabers, Darrell; Olson, Amy M.; Lavigne, Alyson Leah; Sun, Huaping; Kalinec-Craig, Crystal
Titel	Strengthening Grade 3-5 Students' Foundational Knowledge of Rational Numbers
Quelle	In: Teachers College Record, 115 (2013) 7, (45 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1467-9620
Schlagwörter	Elementary School Students; Elementary School Mathematics; STEM Education; Number Concepts; Algebra; Workshops; Elementary School Teachers; Pretests Posttests; Skill Development; Faculty Development; Achievement Gains; Socioeconomic Status; Gender Differences; Interaction; Age Differences; Quasiexperimental Design + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Elementare Mathematik; Schulmathematik; STEM; Number concept; Zahlbegriff; Lernwerkstatt; Schulung; Elementary school; Teacher; Teachers; Grundschule; Volksschule; Lehrer; Lehrerin; Lehrende; Kompetenzentwicklung; Qualifikationsentwicklung; Achievement gain; Leistungssteigerung; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Geschlechterkonflikt; Interaktion; Age; Difference; Age difference; Altersunterschied
Abstract	Background: American students have done poorly in algebra and that has generated policy concerns about preparing students for STEM careers. There has been growing recognition that the algebra problem may begin in earlier grades when students do not adequately master rational numbers. Purpose: The study provided a series of workshops organized around problematic issues that students have in learning rational numbers. The research was designed to help all grade 3-5 teachers in a single school district help students gain in their knowledge of rational numbers. Population: The population was drawn from one large school district (13 schools) and included 140 teachers and 2,845 students matched pre to post. Research Design: The study used a quasi-experimental design. As all teachers in the district were involved, there was no control group. Findings: On the basis of pre-post testing, girl and boy students, as well as students from diverse SES schools demonstrated large gains in their knowledge of rational numbers. There were no significant differences in gains for girls and boys at any of the three grade levels, but SES remained a main effect for gains in achievement for grades 3 and 4 even after entering prior achievement as a covariate and the interaction between SES and gender was significant for grade 5. Recommendations: The findings provide clear evidence that students can make notable gains in learning rational numbers if they are given the opportunity to do so. The authors provide their intentions to further analyze the quantitative data (presented in this paper) with qualitative data that were collected in the study (e.g., providing open-ended response opportunities for students to respond to rational number questions like, "What is a fraction? What is a decimal? What is a percent?" (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Teachers College, Columbia University. P.O. Box 103, 525 West 120th Street, New York, NY 10027. Tel: 212-678-3774; Fax: 212-678-6619; e-mail: tcr@tc.edu; Web site: http://www.tcrecord.org
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10