My Bibliographies

Tate, William F. "Race-Ethnicity, SES, Gender, and Language Proficiency Trends in Mathematics Achievement: an Update." Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Vol. 28. No. 6 (1997): pp. 652-679. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/749636.

This article provides a study on mathematical achievement scores over a 15 year period. These scores indicate that the gap is being closed between various demographic groups in regards to Basic Skills. This includes recommendations for fiscal and cultural policy changes that will help to support the standardization of these scores. At the time of publication the author was an Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin - Madison. He has written other articles on Math and Urban Education. He has a large collection of resources used to produce this article and a detailed array of demographic break down of achievement scores.

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Villasenor Jr., Albert and Kepner Jr., Henry S. “Arithmetic from a Problem-Solving Perspective: An Urban Implementation.” Journal for Research in Mathematics Education. Vol. 24. No. 1. (1993): pp. 62-69. 21 May 2008. http://www.jstor.org/stable/749386.

This article reports on a study conducted with 24 urban first-grade teachers. The study compared an experimental math pedagogy versus the current math pedagogy. The classrooms consisted of 57-99% minority students. This article is interesting in that it repeats a similar study done in 1989 but in an urban setting. I like the how the study findings are visually displayed. Kepner is a professor of Mathematics and Computer Education at University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and Villasenor is a Math Education Consultant from Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

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Lee, Hea-Jin and Herner-Patnode, Leah M. “Teaching Mathematics Vocabulary to Diverse Groups.” Intervention in School & Clinic. Vol. 43. No 2. (2007): pp. 121-126. 22 May 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=27358882&site=ehost-live.

The article discusses the current teaching standards and assessments for Math as defined by NCTM and NCLB. The author uses a case study of a 4th grade urban math teacher to support the success of following the NCTM pedagogy. The article does a nice job of comparing the ideals from the NCTM and actual implementation in the real world. Authors are professors from Ohio State University.

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Gutstein, Eric. “’And That’s Just How it Starts’: Teaching Mathematics and Developing Student Agency.” Teachers College Record. Vol. 109. No. 2. (2007): pp. 420-448. 22 May 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=24414187&site=ehost-live.

The article discusses the author’s experience of teaching middle-school mathematics in a Chicago public school with primarily Latino students. The article makes several ties to studies done by Paulo Freire who believed there is a connection between education and politics. The article defines the methodologies used and responses from students. The author is unable to conclude if the agency developed by the students is long standing or had any impact on choices outside of school. The author has written several other articles and has a full list of resources. The author is a teacher of Mathematical Education at the University of Illinois-Chicago and has taught high school and middle school mathematics.

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Malloy, Carol E. and Malloy, William W. “Resiliency and Algebra 1: A promising non-traditional approach… .” Clearing House. Vol. 71. No. 5. (1998): p 314-318. 22 May 2008. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=564624&site=ehost-live.

This article discusses a study of the achievement level of students enrolled in an Algebra I course in North Carolina during 1995-1996. The article discusses concerns of student preparedness and their resiliency to change in pedagogy. The article indicates that changes should occur only when there is specific student aptitude and desire to learn. The resource list is a bit short. The authors are assistant professors at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Article in Review: "Arithmetic from a Problem-Solving Perspective: An Urban Implementation" by Albert Villasenor, Jr. and Henry S. Kepner, Jr.

This article (Villasenor Jr, Kepner Jr, 1993, Journal for Research in Mathematics) was very interesting in that it repeated an experiment that was completed in 1989 using Cognitively Guided Instruction (Carpenter, Fennema, Peterson, Chiang & Loef, 1989, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education) to teach mathematics. In the original experiment 40 first-grade teachers were selected from suburban settings. Villasenor has repeated the experiment using 24 first-grade teachers in urban classrooms that contain at least 50% minority students (minority is defined as African-American, Hispanic, and other non-white). Half of the teachers receive specific training in the usage of Cognitively Guided Instructions for Mathematics.

The article does a great job of explaining the need for the repetition of the experiment in the urban environment, the experiment methodologies, and assessments. What I find most fascinating, are the results. The students take both a pre-test and a post-test. A random sample of 144 students is selected from both groups. The students' whose teachers are using the CGI methods have great proficiency in solving written problem-solving, oral word problems and oral number facts. These students repeated use advanced math strategies to solve the problems. I followed up on the original study and there was an increase in scores for the CGI group as well, however the discrepancy in scores is much greater in the urban setting. I'm curious if this has anything to do with too many years of just teaching the same old way whereas suburban schools may have experiment with other methods resulting in a much small gain in scores.

This article ties into my theme of the common thread. I see a similar pattern of student educational engagement that seems to be the key to the students educational success.

Additionally, I have found some links to schools and groups that are promoting the Congnitively Guided Instruction method.

• Promising Practices Network; http://www.promisingpractices.net/program.asp?programid=114
  


• National Center for Improving Student Learning and Achievement in Mathematics and Science (NCISLA); http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/ncisla/teachers/
  


• Education Reform: Mathematics Education; http://math.edreform.net/resource/2114

This article is a must read.

A Common Thread

I'm beginning to see a common thread in the education materials that I've been reading. Let me explain...

Last year I read a book called "The Biggest Job We'll Ever Have: The Hyde School Program for Character-Based Education and Parenting" by Macolm Gauld, Laura Gauld and Marc Brown (2003, Scribner). I read this book as a parent, wondering how I could incorporate character building into my parenting style. It has been a great experience, I spend so much less time with the nick picking little stuff and look at the overall character traits that I would like to see my children grow into. The process suggests that we identify the concepts (the desired character traits) and evaluate our behaviour (our response to our children's actions) against the concepts. Are we responding to our children so that they "know the rules" or that they see the character that we are trying to develop. I value courage, when I see that my children have done something that took some bravery (from their viewpoint) than I make a point of acknowledging that giant step that they took. My days as the Mother Superior are long over.

Now I look at this book with a renewed interest as a teacher in progress. The methods and stories in this book have a similar threads with the methods described in several articles that I have read this month as well as a book that I read earlier in the year. Are we attempting to develop the character of critical thinking and problem solving in our students? In the article "The Pedagogy of Poverty Versus Good Teaching" by Martin Haberman (1991, Phi Delta Kappan), he provides several tips to 'good teaching' that revolve around identifying the concepts that need to be shared not the details and getting the students active in the learning experience. In "The Promise of Urban Schools" by the Senior Fellows in Urban Education at Annenberg Institute for School Reform (2000), they refer to the pedagogy as a 'powerful learning experience' where the teacher is the guide and the students own the experience. In "What the Best College Teachers Do" by Ken Bain (2004, Harvard University Press ) the common thread continues as he identifies the best practices that allow the students to take control of their education while the professor guides them toward the goals (the concepts to be learned). The students are responsible to thinking critically and deeply about the concepts that are being taught. As a result the students really own the material from the class.

Fortunately for my students I have a little bit of time to determine how I'm going to turn off the control freak button that runs my life and learn to be the quiet guide that helps to develop critical thinking in my students.

My Thoughts on... "The Power of Urban Schools" (Annenburg Inst for School Reform)

As a mother of elementary aged children and a graduate student, my thoughts on this article come with some personal experiences in hand. I'm in agreement on the need to have educators taking responsibility for their instruction and teach with active learning in mind. When the teachers engage my children the year is a breeze, they are excited to go to school and be a part of the action. I have alse been fortunate to have been on the recipient of this type of instruction and its a pleasure to take part in it. Dr DT was my first professor here at the University and she actively engaged us in the learning process. I really believe that it is the key to education in any locale. Engage the children in the learning, in the exploration and the knowledge will come with excitement and ownership.

However I'm almost dismayed at the thought that the only hope for urban schooling is via political change and public commitment. I see first hand that our current distribution of funding to schools have left urban school far short of what they deserve. How can education be equitable under these conditions? It's sad to read about the discrepancies with respect to resources both material and human. In my children's school we have everything we need and then some. I would be very frustrated to see the inbalance. We have Smart boards and PCs in every class room, aides in every class room, current teaching resources and a nice big yard for recess. To hear that there are schools that don't have current books or technology breaks my heart.

Is our only hope of digging out of the hole is via politic change and public commitment. I have experience that indicates this is a hard pill to swallow for the public. I recently had to work with our adminstration to determine why kindergarten children where being trained to spell Dolch reading sight words. I couldn't believe that they would be required to have a spelling test in kindergarten. The teachers believed it was not a developmentally appropriate activity so why does the BOE think that it is? Out of 60 parents, I could only convince 3 to write letters to the BOE and Administration. Most parents couldn't be bothered, some just did the homework because it came home in the backpack. Parents are to busy to make the effort to dig into what is going on at school. How do we expect to get the public to move on the topic of fair distribution of school funding when they don't care about a small issue of spelling tests in kindergarten?

A recent article in the Star Ledger discussed the rating of educational systems of several countries. Hands down the Finnish are the best educators, they also have a country that pays for all schooling through college and have leveled the educational playground. The article also indicated that this is successful in Finland because it is a cultural decision to have equity in schooling. All children get the same and are expected to attend. In the United States our culture dictates to go for the big prize, the big job, the big house and you must dump a lot of money into your education to do so.