A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Connected Mathematics Project in Maryland Middle Schools

A Longitudinal Evaluation of the Connected Mathematics Project in Maryland Middle Schools

Michael J. Walk: Basic Summary

The present evaluation is part of an initiative of the Division of Instruction of Maryland’s State Department of Education to assess the effectiveness of the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) in Maryland schools and to identify the conditions under which the program may prove most effective. The outcome of this evaluation will provide valuable data to facilitate the department’s decisions regarding a wide-scale CMP implementation in Maryland’s public schools.

CMP was authored by Fey, Fitzgerald, Friel, Lappan, and Phillips (2006) on funding from a National Science Foundation grant (Cain, 2002). MichiganStateUniversity currently houses the project.

CMPis a curriculum based on the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics standards. The curriculum serves middle-school students (grades 6 – 8) and covers all the major domains of middle-school math (i.e., data analysis and probability, number sense and operations, geometry, measurement, and algebra). Each unit of CMP is organized around a central mathematical idea. Each unit is divided into investigations, and each investigation contains a series of related problems. CMP is called a problem-centered curriculum, because it broaches and refines new concepts and skills by having students solve real-world problems. This method is used in order toenable students to connect the concepts ofmathematics to their lives outside of school.

The What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) has summarized the extant research on CMP and determined that is has “mixed effects” on mathematics achievement. That is, not all studies have shown CMP students to score significantly higher on math achievement tests—some have found no improvement over comparison groups, and others have found a slight decrease in test scores. One such example is a study by Ridgeway, Zawojewski, Hoover, and Lambdin (2003, as cited in CMP, 2006), which found no differences in CMP and non-CMP students in the area of basic skills (i.e., numbers and operations) but found a significant increase of CMP students in problem solving abilities. Of course, this finding makes sense considering that CMP is a problem-centered curriculum. Other studies (e.g., Ben-Chaim, Fey, Fitzgerald, Benedetto, and Miller, 1998; Cain ,2002; Reys, Reys, Lapan, and Holliday, 2003; and Riodan and Noyce, 2001) have found consistently higher levels of math achievement in schools using CMP than matched comparison non-CMP schools.

A major lack in most of the evaluation research on CMP is the absence of longitudinal data. Most previous cross-sectional research has used matched comparison groups, but an important test of the effectiveness of CMP would be to gather longitudinal data. In addition, a variable that often confounds research on CMP (or any new program, for that matter) is the increase in teacher education, training, and development that is a consequence of the program implementation (e.g., see Collins, 2002).

In addition to longitudinal data and data on teacher development, it is important to measure other key variables which may affect math achievement outcomes. Following the model of Reys, Reys, Lapan, and Holliday (2003), this study will also assess the percent of students receiving free or reduced lunch, the organizational structure of the middle school (e.g., sixth through eight grade, seventh and eighth, etc.), and measures of previous math achievement.

There are many possible indicators of mathematics achievement that could be used in this evaluation. However, in order to provide the most standardized data, this evaluation will measure math achievement by the math Maryland State Assessment (MSA). The MSA is administered to all students grades three through eight in all of Maryland’s public schools (Maryland State Department of Education Website, 2003). The MSA classifies students by their level of proficiency—basic, proficient, or advanced. The cut-off scores for these categories increase as students enter higher grade levels. The MSAs have been administered since 2003, and students’ scores have been consistently increasing since the test’s conception; however, there still room for improvement. For example, in 2007, only 56.7% of Maryland’s eighth graders performed above the basic level of math proficiency (2007 Maryland Report Card).