Scholars have analyzed the findings of international studies of achievement to try to determine which, if any, aspects of instruction are associated with national performance levels in math. Identify the major conclusions of these analyses, and discuss the implications for improving mathematics performance in the United States
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER: Analyses of the studies suggest that characteristics such as class size, time allocated to instruction, teachers' experience or training, and amount of homework generally do not account for achievement scores. The “tell and show” teaching approach so prevalent in the United States and elsewhere also appears not to be correlated with math performance. It may do little good, therefore, for the United States to try to raise achievement by altering aspects of these characteristics. However, the analyses indicate that, unlike in many other countries, the U.S. math curriculum is unfocused, repetitive, incoherent, and not very demanding. In addition, it is “highly differentiated.”
That is, we tend to sort students into tracks that make higher math available only to high-achieving students. The most productive route, then, to improving U.S.
performance may be to upgrade mathematics curricula and instruction so that all students are challenged to perform at a higher level.
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