Letter About AERA Study of 3-01-2009

Concerning original post at:
http://mathunderground.blogspot.com/2009/03/aera-research-journal-findings-mach-1.html

Dear Senator Eric Oemig,

Please count me dumb as a stump because
I've been hearing for years how Reform math programs wind up with more students taking more years of math in high school.
(and apparently from this study that was not true).

The data provided showed 17% of the students were in NSFF programs versus 83% in CD.

Equally as interesting is the percentage of NSFF students in each group who took 3, 4, and 5 years of math in high school.

3 years 26% ...... CD students 74%
4 years 19% ...... CD students 81%
5 years 13% ...... CD students 87%

Clear to me that the CD students are taking more years of math than the NSFF kids.
( or did all the kids who took lots of NSFF math decide not to go to U Minnesota ).

In WA state in a study recently done by OSPI 40% of high schools are using NSFF programs ... if Minnesota is similar in this regard to WA, then should not 40% of the students in this study be from NSFF programs rather than 17%.

That is an enormous difference 40% to 17%.
It makes me think that NSFF use in Minnesota must be closer to 30%.
Can this data be obtained from Minnesota? I do not know.

I would really like to see data from kids that were in NSFF math programs for all of k-12.

Dan
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CD = Commercially developed programs
NSFF = National Science Foundation funded programs