Uncovering Student Thinking in Mathematics, Grades 6-12

"Cheryl Rose and Carolyn Arline provide a valuable resource to teachers who are interested in determining how their students think and answer questions in mathematics classes."
—From the Foreword by Johnny W. Lott
Director, Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
University of Mississippi

Use these targeted probes to assess secondary students′ grasp of key mathematics concepts!

Research findings show that formative assessment is an important strategy for improving student achievement in mathematics. This practical resource by best-selling authors Cheryl M. Rose and Carolyn B. Arline provides tools and examples that allow middle and high school teachers to gauge students′ knowledge of core mathematics concepts and strengthen their ability to teach effectively.

The authors provide 30 formative assessment probes—brief, easily administered activities targeting specific mathematics ideas—to reveal common understandings and misunderstandings in student thinking. Field-tested with teachers and students at various grade levels, these powerful diagnostic tools help teachers modify their teaching and identify areas that require more instruction. Written in accessible language, this invaluable book:

• Discusses standards, research results, and practical craft knowledge
• Describes the purpose, structure, and development of mathematics assessment probes
• Helps teachers build on students′ current understandings while addressing their identified difficulties
• Offers examples of the faulty thinking students are likely to exhibit and typical obstacles they may encounter

These assessment probes will help teachers can make sound instructional choices and increase the mathematics knowledge of all their students!

Cheryl Rose Tobey is a senior mathematics associate at Education Development Center (EDC) in Massachusetts. She is the project director for Formative Assessment in the Mathematics Classroom: Engaging Teachers and Students (FACETS) and a mathematics specialist for Differentiated Professional Development: Building Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching Struggling Students (DPD); both projects are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). She also serves as a director of development for an Institute for Educational Science (IES) project, Eliciting Mathematics Misconceptions (EM2). Her work is primarily in the areas of formative assessment and professional development. Prior to joining EDC, Tobey was the senior program director for mathematics at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA), where she served as the co–principal investigator of the mathematics section of the NSF-funded Curriculum Topic Study, and principal investigator and project director of two Title IIa state Mathematics and Science Partnership projects. Prior to working on these projects, Tobey was the co–principal investigator and project director for MMSA’s NSF-funded Local Systemic Change Initiative, Broadening Educational Access to Mathematics in Maine (BEAMM), and she was a fellow in Cohort 4 of the National Academy for Science and Mathematics Education Leadership. She is the coauthor of six published Corwin books, including seven books in the Uncovering Student Thinking series (2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014), two Mathematics Curriculum Topic Study resources (2006, 2012), and Mathematics Formative Assessment: 75 Practical Strategies for Linking Assessment, Instruction and Learning (2011). Before joining MMSA in 2001 to begin working with teachers, Tobey was a high school and middle school mathematics educator for ten years. She received her BS in secondary mathematics education from the University of Maine at Farmington and her MEd from City University in Seattle. She currently lives in Maine with her husband and blended family of five children. Carolyn B. Arline is a secondary mathematics educator, currently teaching high school students in Maine. Carolyn also works as a teacher leader in the areas of mathematics professional development, learning communities, assessment, systematic school reform, standards-based teaching, learning and grading, student-centered classrooms, and technology.  She has previously worked as a mathematics specialist at the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance (MMSA) and continues her work with them as a consultant. Carolyn is a fellow of the second cohort group of the Governor’s Academy for Science and Mathematics Educators and serves as a mentor teacher with the current cohort. She participated as a mathematics mentor in the NSF-funded Northern New England Co-Mentoring Network (NNECN) and continues her role as a mentor teacher. She serves as a board member of the Association of Teachers of Mathematics in Maine (ATOMIM) and on local curriculum committees.  Carolyn received her B.S. in secondary mathematics education from the University of Maine.