1st Edition
The Impact of Reform Instruction on Student Mathematics Achievement An Example of a Summative Evaluation of a Standards-Based Curriculum
Summarizing data derived from a four-year combined longitudinal/ cross-sectional comparative study of the implementation of one standards-based middle school curriculum program, Mathematics in Context, this book demonstrates the challenges of conducting comparative longitudinal research in the reality of school life.
The study was designed to answer three questions:
- What is the impact on student performance of the Mathematics in Context instructional approach, which differs from most conventional mathematics texts in both content and expected pedagogy?
- How is this impact different from that of traditional instruction on student performance?
- What variables associated with classroom instruction account for variation in student performance?
The researchers examined a range of variables that affected data collection. These variations highlight the need to study the effects of the culture in which student learning is situated when analyzing the impact of standards-based curricula on student achievement.
This book is directed to educational researchers interested in curriculum implementation, mathematics educators interested in the effects of using reform curriculum materials in classrooms, evaluators and research methodologists interested in structural modeling and scaling of instructional variables, and educational policy makers concerned about reform efforts.
@contents: Selected Contents:
Preface
Chapter 1. Proposing to Study Standards-Based Curriculum Implementation
Chapter 2. Setting the Foundation: Initiation of the Study
Chapter 3. Building a Culture of Support for Reform: Implementation of
Professional Development
Chapter 4. Examining the Role of Teachers: Background, Instruction, and
Treatment Fidelity
Chapter 5. Linking Instruction and Student Opportunity to Learn with
Understanding
Chapter 6. Looking at Assessment Instruments
Chapter 7. Findings about Student Achievement, Question 1: What is the
Impact of the MiC Instructional Approach on Student
Achievement?
Chapter 8. Findings about Student Achievement, Question 2: How is the
Impact of Instruction Using MiC Different from That of
Conventional Instruction on Student Performance?
Chapter 9. Findings about Student Achievement, Question 3: What Variables
Associated with Classroom Instruction Account for Variation in
Student Performance?
Chapter 10. A Closing Note: What We Learned from the Research
References
Biography
Thomas A. Romberg is Bascom Professor of Education and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Mary C. Shafer is Associate Professor of Mathematics Education in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Northern Illinois University.
