Math Scale Research Articles

Priming the Leadership Pipeline: School Performance and Climate Under an Urban School Leadership Residency Program

Purpose: This study examines school climate and student achievement trends under an ambitious school leadership residency program in an urban school district. The 2-year leadership residencies were intensive, combining at least 370 hours of professional development with on-the-job training, in which aspiring school principals held either assistant-level administrative or teacher leadership roles. Research Design: Using a difference-in-differences framework with school fixed effects, we estimate the relationship between schools’ cumulative exposure to program residents and measures of school climate and student performance. We measure school climate using school-by-semester teacher survey composites. Student performance is captured using school-by-year data on language arts and math scale scores, chronic absence rates, suspension rates, and graduation rates. Findings: In models that allow average time trends to vary between the state and the treatment city, an additional resident-by-year in an administrative role in high schools is linked to an additional 15% of a school-level standard deviation in math scale scores and an additional 3.6 percentage points in graduation rates, but also to an additional 10 percentage points in suspension rates. Results are sensitive to model specification, school level, and to residents’ placement in administrative or teacher leader roles. Implications: Due to the contracting nature of the district, only one of 30 entering residents became a school principal within 3 years of program inception. In some models, the estimates suggest potential for aspiring leaders to effect change from nonprincipal administrative roles. Potential for teacher leadership roles is less clear.

Value Beliefs About Math

Abstract. This study proposed an improved representation of the factor structure of the Gaspard et al. (2015) value beliefs about math scale relying on bifactor exploratory structural equation modeling (B-ESEM). Using a convenience sample of 537 Italian students (327 males; Mage = 18.2), our results supported the superiority of a B-ESEM solution including nine specific factors (intrinsic, importance of achievement, personal importance, utility for school/job, utility for life, social utility, effort required, opportunity cost, and emotional cost) and one global value factor. The results further revealed that the specific factors (with the exception of personal importance) retained meaning over and above participants’ global levels of value. Finally, our results confirmed that global value beliefs predicted career aspirations, whereas expectancies of success remained the strongest predictor of math achievement.

How do indonesian sixth grader students make sense of directproportion: a closer look at student with mathematics anxiety

This study aims to explore how Indonesian students make sense direct proportion concepts according to their level of mathematics anxiety. This research tried to uncover the meaning of a phenomenon for students who are involved. In represents the findings, this research emphasized on seeing through the eyes of students being studied. Fifty-six sixth grader students were asked to complete the CAMS instrument. After completing Indonesian version of Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale (CAMS), three female students’ mathematics anxiety levels were created (high, medium, and low). High anxiety student tends to fail in doing an understanding. Student used additive relationships, response without reasons, or use numbers, operations, or strategies randomly in solving the given problems. Medium anxiety student tends to connect the given information listed in the problem with the concepts that she has already had. Student used qualitative comparison, use rate as a unit, and response without reasons in solving the given problems. Low anxiety student connected the given information listed in the problem with the concepts that she has already had. Student used use ratio as a unit, make qualitative comparison, use cross-product rule, and use symbols, commonly algebraic symbols in representing proportions with full understanding of its relationships.

Secondary School Students' (11-14 Years) Effective Input Characteristics for Mathematics, Self-Regulation Skills and Self-Esteem.

Based on Confucius’ saying “ A word may change your mind, an emotion may change your life and a person may change you ”, our emotions affect our learning if we take life as a process of learning. Some of our learning on which we are successful and unsuccessful are student characteristics. Effective properties are one of the characteristics of students. As Wang (2006) states, in terms of mathematics, effective factors related to mathematics lesson are effective on the importance given to mathematics and on the withdrawal from mathematics. Students strive to succeed if they have positive effective input characteristics. However, if they have negative effective characteristics, they may give up not being able to resist the challenges they face. The striving students determine the learning environment and conditions and can make arrangements. This result obtained by the students may sometimes turn out as they wanted, or on the contrary as an undesirable situation. In this case, self-esteem will come into play. Self-esteem is a concept related to the self-appreciation, ability to reveal their skills and knowledge, and success is important in the formation and development of self-esteem (Kohut, 1971). Hence, this study analyzes the effective input characteristics, self-regulation skills and self-esteem of secondary school students together. Among the screening models, general screening model was used in this study. The participants of the study consisted of 361 secondary school students (11-14 years) who study in the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th grades of secondary schools in a city of Turkey in the spring term of 2017-2018 academic year. In the collection of data “Effective Input Characteristics for Math Scale” developed by Caliskan and Serce (2016), “Perceived Self-Regulation Scale” developed by Arslan and Gelisli (2015), “Self-esteem Scale” developed by Rosenberg (1965) and adapted to Turkish by Cuhadaroglu (1985) were used. Students’ effective input characteristics towards mathematics, perceived self-regulation skills and self-esteem were evaluated according to gender, grade level, mathematics course achievement score, and parental attitude. It was determined that secondary school students’ effective input characteristics for Math and self-regulation skills were higher than average; and self-esteem was average. Based on the findings of the research, suggestions were presented about effective input characteristics, self-regulation skills, and self-esteem for secondary school students. Article visualizations:

Screening for Learning Difficulty Using Teacher Ratings on the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire

The present study examined clinical utility of teacher ratings on the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (CLDQ) learning difficulties screening within a referred, school-aged sample ( N =519, 5-18 years). Of this sample, 419 youth had CLDQ reading scale scores from a reading or general education teacher, and 338 had CLDQ math scale ratings from a math or general education teacher. Sensitivity, specificity and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were examined for specific reading and math difficulties (achievement SS<85). Cut-scores were identified to maximize sensitivity (reading: 60–91%; math: 85–89%), but specificity was low (reading: 60–64%, math: 47–48%); AUCs ranged from .70-.87 for reading and .75-.77 for math. Discrimination was comparable in an elementary subsample. Conditional probabilities suggested CLDQ ratings more accurately predicted children without learning difficulties (i.e., true negatives) than with learning difficulties. Parent and teacher ratings were well correlated ( r =.71), but addition of teacher ratings improved classification accuracy and model fit ( p <.001) across domains. Furthermore, CLDQ teacher ratings were helpful in reducing false positives based upon parent ratings alone. Findings suggest teacher ratings via CLDQ can be used to screen children at risk for learning difficulties, with teacher ratings showing added value over and above parent ratings. Subscribe to LDMJ

A Data Science Enhanced Framework for Applied and Computational Math

Aim/Purpose: The primary objective of this research is to build an enhanced framework for Applied and Computational Math. This framework allows a variety of applied math concepts to be organized into a meaningful whole. Background: The framework can help students grasp new mathematical applications by comparing them to a common reference model. Methodology: In this research, we measure the most frequent words used in a sample of Math and Computer Science books. We combine these words with those obtained in an earlier study, from which we constructed our original Computational Math scale. Contribution: The enhanced framework improves the Computational Math scale by integrating selected concepts from the field of Data Science. Findings: The resulting enhanced framework better explains how abstract mathematical models and algorithms are tied to real world applications and computer implementations. Future Research: We want to empirically test our enhanced Applied and Computational Math framework in a classroom setting. Our goal is to measure how effective the use of this framework is in improving students’ understanding of newly introduced Math concepts.

ANSIEDAD ESCOLAR INFANTOJUVENIL: UNA REVISIÓN DE AUTOINFORMES

Abstract.CHILD AND YOUTH SCHOOL ANXIETY: A REVIEW OF SELF-REPORTSSchool anxiety is a set of cognitive, motor and psychophysiological responses emitted by a person in school situations that are perceived as a threat. The research objectives of this study were two. The first one was to describe school anxiety self-reports that have been elaborated and/or validated between 2005 and 2015: School Anxiety Inventory, School Anxiety Inventory-Short Version, Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale, and Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents. The second aim was to analyze the reliability (internal consistency and temporal stability) and validity (factorial structure) of the inventories and the scale mentioned above. Results suggest that the psychometric properties of these instruments are suitable. Therefore, these can be used by clinical and educational professionals to assess the school anxiety of children and adolescents.Key words: school anxiety, childhood, adolescence, assessment, self-report..Resumen.La ansiedad escolar es el conjunto de reacciones cognitivas, motoras y psicofisiolóficas emitidas por una persona ante situaciones del ámbito escolar que son percibidas como una amenaza. Los objetivos de investigación de este trabajo fueron dos. El primero de ellos fue describir los autoinformes de ansiedad escolar que han sido elaborados y/o validados entre el año 2005 y el 2015: Inventario de Ansiedad Escolar, School Anxiety Inventory-Short Version, Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale y Test Anxiety Inventory for Children and Adolescents. El segundo propósito consistió en analizar la fiabilidad (consistencia interna y estabilidad temporal) y validez (estructura factorial) de los inventarios y de la escala mencionados antes. Los resultados sugieren que las propiedades psicométricas de estos instrumentos son adecuadas. Por tanto, pueden ser usados por profesionales clínicos y educativos para evaluar la ansiedad escolar de niños y adolescentes.Palabras clave: ansiedad escolar, infancia, adolescencia, evaluación, autoinforme.

The Combined Influence of Air Pollution and Home Learning Environment on Early Cognitive Skills in Children.

Cognitive skills are one component of school readiness that reflect a child’s neurodevelopment and are influenced by environmental and social factors. Most studies assess the impact of these factors individually, without taking into consideration the complex interactions of multiple factors. The objective of this study was to examine the joint association of markers of environmental pollution and of social factors on early cognitive skills in an urban cohort of children. For this, we chose isophorone in ambient air as a marker of industrial air pollution. Low quality home learning environments was chosen as a marker of the social factors contributing to cognitive development. Using a subpopulation from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (N = 4050), isophorone exposure was assigned using the 2002 National Air Toxics Assessment. Home learning environment was assessed with a modified version of the Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) Inventory, and standardized math assessment scores were used as a measure of early cognitive skills. Multiple linear regression was used to estimate the effect of both exposures on math scores. After adjustment for confounders, children living in areas with ambient isophorone in the upper quintile of exposure (>0.49 ng/m3) had math scores that were 1.63 points lower than their less exposed peers [95% CI: −2.91, −0.34], and children with lower HOME scores (at or below 9 out of 12) had math scores that were 1.20 points lower than children with better HOME scores [95% CI: −2.30, −0.10]. In adjusted models accounting for identified confounders and both exposures of interest, both high isophorone exposure and low HOME score remained independently associated with math scores [−1.48, 95% CI: −2.79, −0.18; −1.05, 95% CI: −2.15, 0.05, respectively]. There was no statistical evidence of interaction between the two exposures, although children with both higher isophorone exposure and a low HOME score had a decrement in math scale score beyond the additive effect of each exposure. This was primarily observed among male children. These findings suggest that aspects of both the physical and social environments are independently associated with children’s early cognitive skills. Future research aiming to improve children’s early cognitive skills and subsequent school readiness should address both domains.

Do Biology Students Really Hate Math? Empirical Insights into Undergraduate Life Science Majors' Emotions about Mathematics.

Undergraduate life science majors are reputed to have negative emotions toward mathematics, yet little empirical evidence supports this. We sought to compare emotions of majors in the life sciences versus other natural sciences and math. We adapted the Attitudes toward the Subject of Chemistry Inventory to create an Attitudes toward the Subject of Mathematics Inventory (ASMI). We collected data from 359 science and math majors at two research universities and conducted a series of statistical tests that indicated that four AMSI items comprised a reasonable measure of students' emotional satisfaction with math. We then compared life science and non-life science majors and found that major had a small to moderate relationship with students' responses. Gender also had a small relationship with students' responses, while students' race, ethnicity, and year in school had no observable relationship. Using latent profile analysis, we identified three groups-students who were emotionally satisfied with math, emotionally dissatisfied with math, and neutral. These results and the emotional satisfaction with math scale should be useful for identifying differences in other undergraduate populations, determining the malleability of undergraduates' emotional satisfaction with math, and testing effects of interventions aimed at improving life science majors' attitudes toward math.

Mitigating the Effects of Poverty and Crime: the Long-Term Effects of an Early Intervention Programme for Children who were Developmentally Delayed and Prenatally Exposed to Cocaine

This study explores the long-term impact on participation in the Linda Ray Intervention Program (LRIP) for children (n = 54) who were developmentally delayed and prenatally exposed to cocaine. By identifying a group of programme graduates from a high crime/high poverty neighbourhood in Miami-Dade County using ArcGIS 10.2 software, a quasi-experimental design was used to compare children living in this area who participated in the centre-based modality (5 h a day; 5 days a week) to children living in this area who participated in the home-based modality (3 h per week) on their Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) reading and math scale scores in public school. The children who participated in the centre-based modality reported stronger outcomes in both math and reading FCAT scale scores at the p < .05 level and also out-performed their school-age peers on both math and reading FCAT scores at the p < .05 level.

Translating the Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale to Turkish for Use with Turkish Children

Math anxiety has become problematic for Turkish students and is thought to be a major cause of low math performance on national and international exams. As Turkey attempts to gain entry to the European Union, it is imperative that the Turkish educational system make efforts to decrease students’ math anxiety. Turkish researchers lack an appropriate scale to assess math anxiety in their students, however, particularly in their primary grade students. This study attempts to remedy that by translating the Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale to Turkish and assessing its psychometric properties. After translation, data were collected from 1587 children in grades 1-5 in Turkey; results of an exploratory factor analysis revealed both a three-factor and a one-factor solution. Confirmatory factor analysis suggest that the one-factor solution fits the data best. Suggestions for future research and applications are included.

Gender Gap Trends on Mathematics Exams Position Girls and Young Women for STEM Careers

Nine years of results on 4.2 million of Indiana's Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP) mathematics (math) exams (grades 3–10) taken after the implementation of No Child Left Behind have been used to determine gender gaps and their associated trends. Sociocultural factors were investigated by comparing math gender gaps and gap trends for (a) state public schools, (b) state nonpublic schools, (c) a low‐performing metropolitan school, and (d) a high‐performing suburban school. To control for changing sociocultural factors, multiregression analyses were conducted to predict grade‐level (3–10) gender gaps and math scale scores using socioeconomic and ethnicity variables. The underrepresentation of females in earning advanced STEM degrees was investigated by determining the gender of the highest performer on the ISTEP math exams in grades 3–10 for each of state's 292 school corporations. Boys' percentages were higher across all grades by about a 2:1 ratio, similar to high‐end results on Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) math exams. Simulations of distributions for d = .27 and variance ratio = 1.13 fitted 2013 college‐bound SAT math empirical data. Results of the analyses of the state's ISTEP math exam data and the 2013 SAT math scores of college‐bound seniors support the arguments that girls and young women possess the abilities to pursue STEM careers that require advanced mathematical skills.

Clinical Utility of the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire

Behavioral disorders are highly comorbid with childhood learning disabilities (LDs), and accurate identification of LDs is vital for guiding appropriate interventions. However, it is difficult to conduct comprehensive assessment of academic skills within the context of primary care visits, lending utility to screening of academic skills via informant reports. The current study evaluated the clinical utility of a parent-reported screening measure in identifying children with learning difficulties. Participants included 440 children (66.7% male), ages 5.25 to 17.83 years (mean = 10.32 years, SD = 3.06 years), referred for neuropsychological assessment. Academic difficulties were screened by parent report using the Colorado Learning Difficulties Questionnaire (CLDQ). Reading and math skills were assessed via individually administered academic achievement measures. Sensitivity, specificity, classification accuracy, and conditional probabilities were calculated to evaluate the efficacy of the CLDQ in predicting academic impairment. Correlations between the CLDQ reading scale and reading achievement measures ranged from -0.35 to -0.65 and from -0.24 to -0.46 between the CLDQ math scale and math achievement measures (all P < .01). Sensitivity was good for both reading and math scales, whereas specificity was low. Taking into account the high base rate of reading and math LDs within our sample, the conditional probability of true negatives (96.2% reading, 85.1% math) was higher than for true positives (40.5% reading, 37.9% math). Overall, the CLDQ may more accurately predict children without LDs than children with LDs. As such, the absence of parent-reported difficulties may be adequate to rule out an overt LD, whereas elevated scores likely indicate the need for more comprehensive assessment.

The Development and Validation of the Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale

Math anxiety has been historically overlooked in samples of children. This may be due in part to the lack of appropriate tools to measure anxiety in young children. The current exploratory study reports on the development and examination of reliability, validity, and factor structure of a new tool to measure math anxiety in young children. The findings of this exploratory study suggest that the Children’s Anxiety in Math Scale is a reliable and valid measure to assess math anxiety in children as young as first grade.

On the Reliability and Validity of a Numerical Reasoning Speed Dimension Derived From Response Times Collected in Computerized Testing

Data from 181 college students were used to assess whether math reasoning item response times in computerized testing can provide valid and reliable measures of a speed dimension. The alternate forms reliability of the speed dimension was .85. A two-dimensional structural equation model suggests that the speed dimension is related to the accuracy of speeded responses. Speed factor scores were significantly correlated with performance on the ACT math scale. Results suggest that the speed dimension underlying response times can be reliably measured and that the dimension is related to the accuracy of performance under the pressure of time limits.

A SCALE DRIFT STUDY

ABSTRACTThis study examines the stability of the SAT® scale from 1994 to 2001. A 1994 form and a 2001 form were readministered in a 2005 SAT administration, and the 1994 form was equated to the 2001 form. The new conversion was compared to the old conversion. Both the verbal and math sections exhibit a similar degree of scale drift, but in opposite directions: the verbal scale has drifted upward, whereas the math scale has drifted downward. We suggest testing programs monitor the score scales periodically by building a testing form schedule that allows a systematic and periodic checking of scale stability.

D.RA.MA: An Extended Conceptualization of Student Anxiety in Criminal Justice Research Methods Courses

The challenges of teaching research methods and statistics to students majoring in criminology and criminal justice are well known. The professor has to deal with an array of obstacles among students, including Disinterest, Relevance Argumentation (viewing statistical skills as detached from the “real world”) and Math Anxiety (D.RA.MA). This paper presents the development of an assessment scale to measure the levels of “D.RA.MA” experienced by students enrolled in research methods or statistics courses. The literature is vast on “math anxiety scales.” However, trepidation on the part of criminal justice students who are anticipating their research methods and statistics courses may extend beyond math anxiety. Therefore, the traditional math anxiety scale was extended to include attempts at measuring Disinterest and Relevance Argumentation. Readers are provided with the D.RA.MA scale instrument and data from an assessment of 80 students in criminal justice courses. Assessing this broader student apprehension may serve as an important first step in making the necessary efforts to reduce student apprehension towards these classes.

Two mathematical gestalts for computer theory

Many Computer Science educators have campaigned to increase mathematical content in the computing curriculum. However, mathematical concepts are often presented in a manner that conflicts with the general mental framework, or gestalt, of CS students. Fortunately, there is more than one gestalt in mathematics. In previous research, we developed two scales for measuring mathematical gestalt in books-a Logical Math scale and a Computational Math scale. In this paper, we apply our two scales to current Computer Theory books to assess the relative emphasis these books give to each gestalt. Our findings have relevance in the development of approaches for teaching mathematical topics in computer courses, especially Computer Theory courses.

Continuing in Mathematics: A Longitudinal Study of the Attitudes of High School Girls

The mathematics attitudes (determined by ratings on the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales) of ninth grade girls of similar intellect who subsequently took one to four years of college preparatory math were compared in 1975 and 1978 (n = 84). Math enrollment groups differed significantly on the following scales: Usefulness of Mathematics, Confidence in Learning Mathematics, Teacher (perceived attitude toward the student as a learner of mathematics), and Effectance Motivation in Mathematics as assessed both in Grades 9 and 12, and on the Math as a Male Domain Scale as assessed in Grade 12. From Grade 9 to 12, scores on the Attitude toward Success in Math Scale became significantly more positive.