The effects of middle school mathematics practices upon student achievement

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of relationship between a problem solving emphasis, use of teaching models, effective teacher behavior/decisions, and the use of electronic tools in mathematical practices with the level of student achievement in mathematics. In addition, the study was to determine which of these variables best predicted student achievement in mathematics. It also was designed to determine if there were significant variances in student achievement between students of teachers who were users or non-users of the methodological ideal in middle school mathematics practices. An instrument was developed and administered to seventy fifth-grade teachers in three Nebraska and Iowa metropolitan public school district of similar size and demographics who gave the Form F and G or the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. Test scores from one thousand sixty pupils who had received fifth-grade mathematics instruction from one of the seventy fifth-grade respondents were also part of the sample. A multiple regression analysis was used to analyze the data which included a Pearson Product Moment Correlation test. There were significant correlations between student achievement and what teachers believed in and used during mathematics instruction. The highest predictor of student achievement from teacher agreement with the methodological idea was the problem solving emphasis in curriculum and instruction. The highest predictor of student achievement from teacher usage was also a problem solving emphasis, with the next best predictor of student achievement in mathematics being the effective teacher behavior/decision factor. In addition, students who received instruction from teachers who used the methodological ideal in middle school mathematics practices earned significantly higher achievement test scores in mathematical problem solving than students whose teachers did not use the methodological ideal in mathematics practices. However, the use of a particular teaching model or the use of electronic tools during the instruction of mathematics had no significant effect upon student achievement in mathematics