ENGLISH

Assessing Children's Mathematical Knowledge: Social Class, Sex and Problem-Solving

By Barry Cooper , Mairead Dunne

Book information

Publisher
Open University Press
Year
1999
ISBN
0335203175, 9780335203178
LCC
QA135.5 .C5955 2000
Open Library ID
OL36151M
Language
english
Format
PDF
Filesize
2 MB (2499291 bytes)
Edition
1
Pages
233\233
Time added
2011-06-04 13:46:07

Description

National assessment has been introduced in many countries to monitor children's progress in mathematics and to exert some influence over their curriculum experience. In England, children undertake national tests whose results are also used to compare schools. Reflecting thinking in mathematics education, these tests have tended to embed mathematical tasks in supposedly "realistic" settings. Such "realistic" contexts might be expected to have a variety of benefits. Perhaps working class children will benefit from the "relevant" nature of such contexts? Perhaps girls will perform better on such items? In order to address such questions, the authors have undertaken quantitative and qualitative research with 10-11 and 13-14 year-old children to explore their interpretation of and performance on English national mathematics test items, with a special focus on the validity and fairness of "realistic" items. This text draws on the work of Bernstein and Bordieu to make sense of findings which suggest that the validity of such items may vary by social class and sex.

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