Tuesday, March 24, 2009

AERA Research Journal findings March 1, 2009

Unfortunately I am not a subscriber but here is the Abstract:

http://aer.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/46/1/203

The article is available to non-subscribers for $20.

This version was published on March 1, 2009
American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 46, No. 1, 203-231 (2009)
DOI: 10.3102/0002831208323368

The Preparation of Students From National Science Foundation–Funded and Commercially Developed High School Mathematics Curricula for Their First University Mathematics Course
by

Michael Harwell, Thomas R. Post and Arnie Cutler ...University of Minnesota

Yukiko Maeda ...Purdue University

Edwin Anderson ...University of Minnesota

Ke Wu Norman ...University of Montana

Amanuel Medhanie ...University of Minnesota

The selection of K–12 mathematics curricula has become a polarizing issue for schools, teachers, parents, and other educators and has raised important questions about the long-term influence of these curricula. This study examined the impact of participation in either a National Science Foundation–funded or commercially developed mathematics curriculum on the difficulty level of the first university mathematics course a student enrolled in and the grade earned in that course. The results provide evidence that National Science Foundation–funded curricula do not prepare students to initially enroll in more difficult university mathematics courses as well as commercially developed curricula, but once enrolled students earn similar grades. These findings have important implications for high school mathematics curriculum selection and for future research in this area.

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Looks like Professor Mass knew what he was talking about:
http://dailyuw.com/2008/3/10/uw-students-behind-math-professors-say/
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Looks like those UW Professors knew what they were talking about also:
http://mathunderground.blogspot.com/2008/02/60-uw-faculty-critical-of-current.html
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To improve a system requires the intelligent application of relevant data. The SPS school directors over the last year have shown signs of improvement in their recognition of why the SPS is a model of math failure. H.S. Math adoption takes place in April. We shall see if any intelligent application of relevant data occurs in April.

4 comments:

dan dempsey said...

The article makes it clear that those entering preparation for a STEM field from NSF funded high school math programs usually require an additional math course at the collegiate level to get ready for Calculus.

That means a five year program for many rather than a four year program.

This has been a concern of the Gov. as the state attempts to cut down remediation costs at the college level.

I would like to see more research done on how NSF funded k-12 math programs impact the non-college bound.

I already know how these NSF math programs impact parents that attempt to help their children.

dan dempsey said...

It is interesting to note that the authors of this research would be classified more as math educators than research mathematicians.

In fact some of the authors were involved in pushing NSF curricula into Minnesota schools.

Could in mean we are getting to the end of the NSF math program fad?

WOW ... perhaps clear example based instruction will once again be possible in more classrooms.

If Obama wants to save some dollars ... how about ending the NSF math materials creation push. The NSF has created some nice supplementary materials unfortunately they are marketed as primary instructional materials (a real disaster).

USA worst PISA scores of all English speaking nations. Do you think someone is finally noticing and beginning to connect the dots?

Anonymous said...

The fact that students in different programs earn similiar grades shows grades are not a reliable indicator of true student performance.

Public education should adapt a central core curriculum and yes, one textbook for all students will stop social promotion. As a teacher of below basic students, I am all in favor of using singapore textbooks or textbooks that use the Singapore model. The problems have been selected and tested, unlike the NSF defective model. The reading level for Larson is too high for my clientele.

dan dempsey said...

Hopefully AP Calc students can read Larson.