Study of developing scales to measure the skills in 6th - 8th grade mathematics curriculum

Although there has been particular emphasis on defining and evaluating basic mathematical skills like problem solving, communication, reasoning and connecting, the number of scales towards measuring these skills is low. Starting from this point, the aim of the present study is to develop scales for evaluating Problem Solving , Communication, Reasoning and Connecting skills of 6th, 7th and 8th grade students. At the first stage of the process, draft scales were developed for each skill based on literature and document analysis, interviews with experts and teachers, and observations. These 4-level Likert-type scales piloted on 347 primary school mathematics teachers to test validity and reliability.The structural validity of the scales was tested with Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses respectively. The analyses came up with; Problem Solving Skill Scale with 18 items and 3 factors (Understanding, Applying and Evaluating), Communication Skill Scale with 15 items and 3 factors and (Reading and Listening, Speaking and Writing, Using Mathematics Terminology Effectively), Reasoning Skill Scale with single factor and 19 items and Connecting Skill Scale with 8 items under 2 factors (Connecting within Discipline and Connecting without Discipline).Additionally, Cronbach Alpha and Guttman Split Halves coefficients were also determined for these scales. The results showed that the reliability scores of the scales were in acceptable range for both Cronbach Alpha (0.875, 0.887, 0.933, and 0.863 respectively) and Guttman Split Halves (0.797, 0.854, 0.924 and 0.844 respectively).As the results of these statistical analyses, it was determined that the scales were reliable and valid. In the last section of the study, certain recommendations were provided for researchers to conduct similar studies and teachers.Key Words: Problem Solving, Communication, Reasoning, Associating, Developing Scales.