Lem-solving processes also make it possible to assess students knowledge and

understanding at deeper level than whether they can answer a problem correctly or not. As a
consequence, it is possible to characterize childrens performance in terms of whether they
have acquired particular concepts or skill rather than simply in terms of scores on a test. The
analysis of problem types and childrens solution processes also provides a basis to develop
measures of transfer and problem solving that are relatively sensitive to the effects of
instructions.
The common framework which is used to characterize the knowledge and/or
performance within each of the model in figure I makes it possible to examine specific
relationships between different components of the model with a much higher degree of
specificity than has been possible in previous studies. For example, it is possible to attempt to
estabilish links between teachers knowledge and how that knowledge is translated into
specific classroom activities that are related to that knowledge or to investigate how
particular instructional activities are reflected in students learning of the concepts and skills
being taught.
Assessing Students Thinking
One of the key relationship in the model in figure I is the relationship between teachers
decisions and teachers assessment of students thinking in the figure, this relationship is
represented by the arrows joining students cognitions, students behaviors, and teachers
decisions. A key assumption that our research is examining is that one of the principal ways
that teachers might apply pedagogical knowledge is in assessnebt of their own students
knowledge and abilities.
A primary focus of our test of teachers ability to assess students problem-solving
processes and their knowledge of how their own students solve different problems. The
principle that assessing students knowledge is important is embedded in at least two of belief
scales, and several categories within the system for coding classroom behavior are designed
to identify teachers actions that are intended to assess children thinking. A major component
of the experimental treatment that is part of our research attempts to help teachers develop
procedures to use the pedagogical knowledge and abilities and use that knowledge to make
instructional decisions.
There is not a great deal of evidence that teachers can successfully assess their students
knowledge and use that information to make instructional decisions. Studies of childrens
thinking generally deal with individuals, and most teachers find it difficult to evaluate 30
students with my thing but a paper and pencil test. I urthermore the research on teachers
decision making

has found little evidence that teachers take into account the assessment of individual students
when planning of instruction (Clarck & Peterson, 1986). On the other hand. The Beginnig
Teacher Evaluation Study found that teachers ability to predict individual students success
in solving specific problems on a standardized achievement test was positively correlated
with student achievement in the teachers classes (Fisher et al., 1980). Our own data also
indicate that teachers knowledge of their own students abilities to solve different problems is
positively correlated with performance of the teahcers classes. Generally the students of
teachers who were more successful in predicting students success in solving a series of word
problems had higher levels of achievement on the test of problem solving than students of
teachers who were less successful ( Carpenter, Fennema, & Peterson, 1987).
Futhermore, the fact that teachers do not currently use knowledge about students in
planning for instruction does not necessary imply that they would not do so if appropriate
knowledge were available. Most teachers can distinguish many of the critical differences
between different types of problems when asked to do so, and many of them have a
reasonable intuitive feel for problem difficulty. In fact, most teachers know a great deal about
their own to solve different thypes of problems. But in general much of this knowledge is
impressionistic; it is not principled, and it lacks coherence and structure (Carpenter et al.,
1987). The research on childrens thinking and problem solving provides the nkind of
structure that may make it possible to develop routines for assessing childrens abilities and
knowledge and to use the information about students provided by such assessments in
planning for instruction.
A focus on process
A distinguishing feature og cognitive science research is the concern for the cognitive
processes that are involved in solving problems. In the research on childrens addition and
subtraction concepts, the primary distinctions between stages of development are drawn on
the basis of the processes that children at each stage use to solve different problems, and even
problem difficulty is interpreted in terms of the processes that are required to solve different
problems. One of the unifying themes of our research is a focus on the processes that children
use to solve problems. Process measures are used in our assessment of students learnings,
and teachers knowledge of the processes that students use to solve different problem is
primary component of the assessment of teachers pedagogical knowledge. The classroom
observation scheme includes codes that distinguish between whether a teachers instruction in
concerned with specific processes used to solve problems. Whether they are accessing the
processes used to solve a problem or simply the answer. And wheter theay are giving
feedback about the process used to solve the problem or about the answer.