Bridging Research and Practice: Efficacy of a Research-Based Redesign of a Grade 7 Mathematics Curriculum

• In Event: 72.049 - Roundtable Session 34
  In Roundtable Session: 72.049-13 - Understanding Effective Instructional Practices in Mathematics Education

Abstract

To test whether research can be effectively translated into practice, the 7th grade Connected Mathematics Project 2 curriculum was redesigned according to three research-based principles. The efficacy of the redesigned curriculum was tested against the original curriculum in a two-year cluster-randomized trial. Schools (n = 114) were randomly assigned to use the redesigned curriculum (treatment) or the original curriculum (control). Treatment students scored higher than control students on six of eight unit post-tests. For two of these units, differences between treatment and control were large enough to be considered “substantively important” and one was statistically significant. In addition, moderator analyses suggested a global trend for the treatment to be more beneficial for traditionally underperforming students.

Authors

• Yvonne Kao, WestEd

• Jodi Davenport, WestEd

• Bryan Matlen, WestEd

• Larry Thomas, University of California - Los Angeles

• Steven Arnold Schneider, WestEd