A National Study of Early Elementary Math Curricula

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education

A large proportion of U.S. elementary school students show mastery of only rudimentary mathematics and only a small proportion achieve at high levels. Elementary school students from poor families also have substantially lower math scores than their advantaged peers.

What is taught to students and how it is taught may be important factors in a school’s ability to improve student math achievement. However, there is little research evidence that educators can use to choose the math curriculum to implement in their schools. This lack of information was recognized in discussions by the National Assessment of Title I Independent Review Panel; an Office of Elementary and Secondary Education Title I Mathematics Collaboration meeting held in December 2004; and a panel of math curriculum experts, policy experts, and evaluation methodologists convened by IES. Given the fact that only a small fraction of this country’s students are judged as proficient in mathematics, the discussions ultimately concluded that the Title I evaluation plan should include an evaluation of mathematics curricula. The goal of Title I is to improve academic achievement of disadvantaged students.

The U.S. Department of Education's Institute for Education Sciences has selected Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., and its subcontractors to conduct the Evaluation of Mathematics Curricula—a large-scale rigorous study that will select, implement, and evaluate the relative effects of several early elementary math curricula that show promise for improving math achievement in disadvantaged schools. A competitive process was used to select the curricula, and approximately 15 districts and 100 schools throughout the country will implement the curricula during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 school years. Mathematica's evaluation partners include SRI International and Coffey Communications. The study team will administer standardized tests to students, survey teachers, observe teacher curricula training, and observe classroom instruction.

Click here for more information on the evaluation.