This study focused on two themes which have recurred in education since the 1980's: equity of educational outcomes for all students and reform in mathematics education. The problem addressed in this study concerned the apparent inability of large- scale reforms to meet equity goals. The purpose of the study was to increase understanding of this problem from both theoretical and practical perspectives. The study was influenced by feminist perspectives in the choice of theoretical framework and methodology. Focusing specifically on gender equity, the study was set in the context of a large-scale reform in the USA, Ohio's Statewide Systemic Initiative, Project Discovery.There were three major objectives in this study. First was to synthesise the literature concerning gender equity in mathematics education to produce a definition of the ideal Connected Equitable Mathematics Classroom (CEMC). There were two parts to the literature review: one concerning explanations for observed gender differences in mathematics education, and another concerning initiatives implemented to try to bring about gender equity in mathematics education.The second objective was to use the definition of the ideal CEMC, derived from the literature, to determine the extent to which reform had occurred in mathematics classrooms in Ohio. This was accomplished through the analysis of quantitative data collected from a random sample of teachers and principals across the state, and qualitative data collected from seven case study sites. The third objective was to determine the barriers to and facilitators of the realisation of equity goals in middle-school mathematics classrooms involved in Project Discovery. This was accomplished through a cross-site analysis of data collected at the seven case- study sites, with the analysis framed around the characteristics of the CEMC.The outcomes of the study are ++ / set out in terms of these three objectives, culminating in a discussion of the implications and challenges which the findings of this study pose for researchers, reformers, equity advocates and practitioners.

In 1989, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics advocated for a reform mathematics approach to mathematics education. Teachers in a large suburban school district in the southeastern United States are expected to use strategies that are consistent with reform mathematics. It is not known whether faculty members of a large elementary school in that district have adopted reform mathematics teaching strategies. Reform mathematics is an endeavor to move away from the traditional, direct instruction approach of the teacher as the sole provider of information toward the teacher as a facilitator of knowledge. Reform mathematics allows students to construct their own understanding through experience. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of reform mathematics through teachers' self-report of current practices and classroom observations. A quantitative survey study design was used that included data collection from a self-report survey and teacher observations. Thirty-one teachers responded to the survey, and 15 of the teachers were observed. The survey results showed overall positive agreement (M = 4.54 on a 6-point Likert scale) with reform mathematics. The observation results revealed that teachers were using reform mathematics strategies in their classrooms. Nonetheless, the results indicated room for improvement. A staff development project was designed to provide teachers with targeted training to implement reform mathematics strategies more fully. This study will initiate social change by introducing and reinforcing current, data-driven teaching techniques to affect positive future student achievement and success.

The study took the form of action research situated in a case study. The participants consisted of sixteen Grade 11 learners who attend a non-profit tutoring organisation called Ikamva Youth on Saturday mornings and who volunteered to learn mathematics with mathematical software. Data were collected from the learners using a structured questionnaire, journals in which learners were encouraged to record their daily experiences and by studying the learners’ own written work during the research period. Moreover, the research closed with a focus group session. The study primarily described three aspects, viz. the degree to which learners are able to work with the strands of strategic competence and adaptive reasoning with particular emphasis on interpretation and application, knowledge production and justification and social collaboration; barriers in terms of working with these strands in a digital environment that may interfere with the learning process; and, the personal (affective) response of the students to the availability of technology. Findings suggest that the participants experienced difficulties in accessing these particular strands of mathematical knowledge, and subsequently expressed the desire to revert back to a place where the teacher assumes a more direct teaching style and where the focus of mathematical learning is on technique. In other words, learners preferred routine expertise, whilst appearing to lack in adaptive expertise. With respect to the second aspect of the research, it is suggested that one of the most prominent barriers to integrating technology into mathematics does not necessarily relate to adjustments in terms of the instrumental use of software and the computer environment, but seems to stem from the learners’ own epistemologies and beliefs about the nature of what constitutes effective mathematical teaching and learning. In paying attention to the voice of the learners it surfaced that the learners tend to associate computers more strongly with a cultural tool for entertainment than with mathematical learning. Although the study points out that implementing an interactive curriculum integrated with technology into a classroom with learners from low socio-economic backgrounds is not necessarily straightforward, it does suggest that with more frequent exposure certain learners can develop a propensity for working within a cognitively rich problem-solving context and effectively employ the mathematical software as an extension of their own thinking. This study adds to broader research on the role of technology in learning by reporting that the learners felt that the contextualisation of mathematics, followed by the ability to manipulate the graph themselves were the main contributors to their mathematical learning. The learners disregarded the visualisation effect of the computer as they felt that it had very little impact on their mathematical learning.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the implementation process of the present and newly introduced instructional techniques in new elementary school mathematics curriculum in sixth grade through the reports of teachers, which has been piloted in some specific schools. Moreover, it was aimed to find out the effects of several parameters on implementation, like city where school teachers are working is located, teachers&amp / #8217 / gender, teaching experience and number of students in the classroom. In addition, difficulties faced by teachers during the implementation process and teachers&amp / #8217 / general opinions about the new curriculum are examined. The sample consisted of 80 teachers working at elementary schools located in Ankara, Istanbul, Bolu and Kocaeli (Izmit). The Teacher Questionnaire was administered to participants in the 2005-2006 academic year. In order to investigate the differences in Teacher Questionnaire&amp / #8217 / s sub-scales&amp / #8217 / scores (Learning-Teaching Process, Material Usage, Evaluation Techniques) of the participants with respect to city, gender, teaching experience, academic level and number of students in classes, separate Multivariate Analysis of Variance were run. The results of this study indicated that teachers&amp / #8217 / implementation of the new methods and techniques highlighted in the curriculum can be interpreted as at high level. MANOVA tests indicated that teachers&amp / #8217 / implementation of the new methods and techniques were not affected by number of students in the classrooms, gender and teaching experience. According to the results of the study, teachers&amp / #8217 / usage of recommended educational equipments was found as at average level and MANOVA tests indicated that teachers&amp / #8217 / usage of recommended educational equipments was affected by teaching experience but not by gender and number of students in the classroom. The results of this study also showed that teachers&amp / #8217 / implementation of new evaluation techniques was at average level and MANOVA tests indicated that teachers&amp / #8217 / implementation of new evaluation techniques were not affected by gender, teaching experience and number of students in the classrooms.

Investigating the teacher education phenomenon of mathematics teacher education through the perspectives of teacher educators was aimed in this study. It was designed to understand the problems and the needs of teacher education in Turkey, to conceive the imperatives of the reforms mathematics teacher education reforms, namely 1982 reform, 1998 reform, and 2006 reform, and to determine whether these reforms satisfy the existing needs in Turkey. Based on the principles of qualitative research methods, documents of mathematics teacher education programs were investigated after the date when teacher education has been replaced under universities. As a second data collection tool, interviews with past and present deans of the education faculties, department chairs of mathematics education departments, and the academic staff were conducted. The data collected were analyzed through qualitative data analysis methods and the meanings and importance of the imperatives, processes, and consequences of the reforms were explored as well as the problems and the needs of teacher education in Turkey and solutions for them were investigated. The findings of this study showed that mathematics teacher education took a great step after establishing education faculties under universities in 1982. However, it has to be improved in order to eliminate the problems and the needs of teacher education in Turkey. It was expected to develop a source for the future teacher education reforms while paying attention to the imperatives and the consequences of educational changes in 1982, 1998 and 2006, and to be beneficial to generate a Turkish teacher education framework.

The main objective of this study was to explore how Deaf learners orientate to a problem solving mathematics curriculum. The study took the form of an autoethnography situated in critical pedagogy. Purposeful sampling was used to select Grade 9 learners from a local school for the Deaf as participants. Data was collected from the learners using a structured questionnaire, viz. Students Orientation to Mathematics (SOM), as well as through focus group sessions and personal interviews. In addition, teachers’ and parents were interviewed to ascertain the general orientation of Deaf learners to mathematics and to identify barriers that may prevent these learners from progressing optimally in their studies of mathematics. Although the learners had difficulties in accessing particular pedagogical aspects of problem solving mathematics, the findings showed a slight increase in the learners’ study attitude and study habits towards mathematics and in their problem solving skills. Moreover, the learners particularly enjoyed the activity element of the problem solving curriculum. At the end of the study the learners indicated that they preferred a modeling problem solving approach to a more traditional way of teaching mathematics. Although the study points out that implementing a problem solving curriculum into a Deaf classroom is not necessarily straightforward, it does suggest that with exposure Deaf learners can develop a propensity for working within a cognitively rich problem solving environment.

This study was conducted in order to determine how mathematics teachers allocate their time in the classroom and the factors that influence teacher priorities in that time allocation. Research has indicated that math teachers may choose not to do certain activities in their classroom because of the amount of time that they take, but other underlying reasons may exist. In order to study this idea, six math teachers were interviewed on their current time allocation and rationale for that allocation, and the results from these interviews were used to create a survey that was sent to 581 math teachers in Utah. The results from the 224 completed surveys showed that many teachers allocate their classroom time in a fairly traditional manner, with an average of about 10% of class time being spent on student-centered activities. 40.63% of teachers spent 0% of their class time on student-centered activities. There is variation in time allocation and influencing factors based on a teacher's schedule, level of teaching, experience, and how student-centered their teaching methods are. Also, the results support the claim that there are factors, other than limited class time, that affect how teachers choose whether or not to do certain activities. Some of the most significant deciding factors found are whether the activities will help students with their end of level tests, if they will keep students working hard mathematically, whether others are using those activities or not, how the activities affect classroom rowdiness. It was also found that teachers who are more teacher-centered tended to choose activities based on how easy they were to implement, including their personal comfort level, ease of preparation, and ease of management with student behavior. More student-centered teachers tended to care more about keeping the students working hard mathematically.

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