The Third International Math and Science Study (TIMSS), conducted in 1995, clearly indicated that among 41 countries American students were lacking geometric concepts and skills and basic knowledge in measurement and proportionality. This problem was recognized by most state educational agencies, the U.S. Department of Education, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), institutions of higher education, school districts, and most publishers. Many projects have been developed since then to improve student learning in those areas. However, upon reviewing states' test scores, TIMSS-R (conducted in 1999), and the Nation's Report Card, it seems that those initiatives for improvement had very little impact on student learning of geometry, measurement, and facility with proportionality.
While many educational agencies are striving to determine the real causes for the lack
of improvement in the areas listed above, it is becoming more and more clear that many elementary teachers (through no fault of their own) have limited and faulty knowledge
of geometric concepts and skills. Furthermore, instructional strategies, procedures, and methodologies need fine-tuning when geometry content is taught in the classroom. Elementary teachers' limited knowledge of geometry was revealed during the summer
of 2001 in Pennsylvania's Governor's Institutes and Urban Academies programs.
First, when it was announced by the Pennsylvania Department of Education that the Governor's programs for teachers would focus on geometry, the number of applications for admission to those institutes doubled and tripled. Second, instructors' records indicate that participants who took the pre-test performed very poorly, to the point that, in the Urban Academies for K-8 teachers, only a few achieved a passing grade. In one group
of 28 elementary teachers, only one passed the pre-test.
The Pennsylvania State Team of the Mid-Atlantic Eisenhower Consortium at Research for Better Schools (RBS) has developed IMAGES (Improving Measurement and Geometry in Elementary Schools) to assist teachers of and students in grades K-5 in improving their concepts and skills in these areas. It is the belief of the Pennsylvania State Team that the benefits of geometry and measurement for students go beyond the specific content, and also help students with broader areas, such as organization, problem solving, enhancing visualization, and even following directions.
