According to a national evaluation of four math curricula, among first graders, the results favored Math Expressions over both Investigations and SFAW, but not over Saxon. Among second graders, the results favored Math Expressions and Saxon over SFAW, but not over Investigations.
The four curricula studied include: (1) Investigations in Number, Data, and Space, (2) Math Expressions, (3) Saxon Math, and (4) Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics (SFAW).
The evaluation compared the relative effects, including differences in teacher training, instructional strategies, content coverage, and materials, of these four curricula on the math achievement of first and second graders in 110 schools in 12 participating districts in 10 states. Schools were randomly assigned within each district to implement one of the four curricula in first and second grade. After one year, this study found significant impacts on student achievement of two curricula relative to the other two curricula in the study.
The evaluation was conducted by Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. and released by the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance within the Institute of Education Sciences.
For first report visit: http://ies.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=NCEE20094052.
View, download, and print the report as a PDF file (2.3 MB)
View, download, and print the executive summary as a PDF file (373 KB)
View, download, and print the study snapshot as a PDF file (696 KB)