Informing practice with the best research and making research more relevant to practice are easier said than done. Making a tangible difference in people’s lives is harder still. In this series of short commentaries, AIR experts reflect on ways to meet the challenge.
Despite a widely held belief that U.S. students do well in mathematics in grade school but decline precipitously in high school, a new study comparing the math skills of students in industrialized nations finds that U.S. students in 4th and 8th grade perform consistently below most of their peers around ...
AIR experts Courtney Tanenbaum and Kirk Walters will participate in the STEM Solutions National Leadership Conference, hosted by U.S. News & World Report in San Diego June 29-July 1. Dr. Tanenbaum will discuss engaging girls in science and Dr. Walters will address recent trends in professional development for math teachers. ...
The Plan, Do, Study, Act Process is central to the improvement of instructional routines. Watch one of the Better Math Teaching Network members in real time and in a real classroom setting introduce the Plan, Do, Study, Act, or PDSA, process.
A new international grading index that provides states, school districts and policymakers with a way to determine where their students rank in comparison with their peers around the world finds that U.S. elementary school students show average performance, at best, in mathematics and are widely outperformed by their counterparts in ...
A study by the American Institutes for Research comparing the teaching of elementary school mathematics in the United States and Singapore has found that Singapore’s textbooks and assessment examinations are more demanding and their teachers more skilled mathematically but that U.S. approaches often put more emphasis on certain important 21 ...
While there are many interventions aimed at boosting young children’s language and literacy skills, there are fewer aimed at improving math learning for young children, and even fewer that target children younger than preschool or kindergarten age. AIR and its partners developed the Math4Littles program to help parents and caregivers ...
Typical approaches to professional learning are often driven by district or campus priorities, rather than by the individual needs of teachers. Adult learning and motivation theories emphasize the importance of allowing teachers autonomy over their own learning. Moreover, teachers may have the best understanding of what kind of learning would ...
Far too many students see mathematics as a subject to be endured, rather than a subject of real-world importance and personal value. But when teachers use student-centered techniques to engage students in more active and authentic ways, they can transform math classrooms into lively learning environments in which students take ...
Increasingly, schools across the United States are using innovative educational technologies to increase students’ learning. However, there is still a lot to learn about these tools and their impact on teaching and learning in the classroom. AIR is conducting a study to better understand student engagement and learning when math ...