Measuring Sixth-Grade Students' Problem Solving: Validating an Instrument Addressing the Common Core

• In Event: 16.056 - Roundtable Session 4
  In Roundtable Session: 16.056-14 - Students' Mathematical Thinking: Grades 5-8

Abstract

This manuscript describes the development of problem-solving instrument intended for classroom use that addresses the Common Core State Standards. A prior study was conducted to explore properties of two problem-solving measures that were created to be parallel in nature. The measures were condensed into one instrument after using psychometric data to inform this decision. Moreover, items were revised and added from the previous versions. In this study, one hundred thirty-seven students completed the assessment and their responses were analyzed. Results regarding reliability and validity of the outcomes from this analysis are shared. The resulting instrument provides teachers and mathematics educators a tool to gather data about sixth-grade students’ problem solving in the Common Core era.

Authors

• Jonathan David Bostic, Bowling Green State University

• Toni A. Sondergeld, Drexel University