
A Longitudinal Study of Students Completing Four Years of UCSMP Mathematics.
Hirschhorn, Daniel B. (1993). Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, v24 n2 p136-58. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ478386
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examining62Students, grades7-10
University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Multiple Courses Intervention Report - Secondary Mathematics
Review Details
Reviewed: June 2016
- Quasi-Experimental Design
- Meets WWC standards with reservations
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Please see the WWC summary of evidence for University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Multiple Courses.
Findings
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
UCSMP Applications Test |
University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Multiple Courses vs. Business as usual |
9 Months |
Grade 10, sites B & C;
|
21.19 |
16.46 |
Yes |
|
|
Mathematics Level 1 Achievement Test |
University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Multiple Courses vs. Business as usual |
9 Months |
Grade 10, sites B & C;
|
492.36 |
489.03 |
No |
-- |
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 52%
Male: 48% -
Suburban
Study Details
Setting
The analytic sample included in this intervention report consisted of two unnamed sites in affluent suburban areas. Each site included one feeder school in which a subset of the seventh- and eighth-grade students received instruction using UCSMP Transition Mathematics and UCSMP Algebra and one high school in which a subset of students used UCSMP Geometry and UCSMP Advanced Algebra in ninth and tenth grade.
Intervention Group
The intervention students used UCSMP for 4 consecutive years, starting in seventh grade and ending in tenth grade. Students used UCSMP Transition Mathematics in 1986–87, UCSMP Algebra in 1987–88, UCSMP Geometry in 1988–89, and UCSMP Advanced Algebra in 1989–90.
Comparison Group
Students in the comparison group attended the same high schools and feeder schools as their peers in the intervention group. They used traditional mathematics curricula that corresponded to each of the UCSMP courses. The traditional curricula were published by Addison-Wesley, Merrill, Houghton Mifflin, and unnamed others.
Support for implementation
The report did not describe teacher training or implementation support. However, at site B, some of the seventh- and eighth-grade teachers were involved with the UCSMP pilot effort, which meant they had previous experience implementing UCSMP curricula.
Additional Sources
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
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Hirschhorn, D. B. (1991). Implementation of the first four years of the University of Chicago School Mathematics Project secondary curriculum (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Chicago, IL.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
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Study findings for this report.
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