Project Deliverables
The project developed a set of materials (Math That Works) that address significant middle school mathematics competencies. The student materials are lightweight and nonintimidating—especially appropriate for students having a history of poor performance with traditionally delivered mathematics. Yet the texts cover content typically missed by the target audience: signed numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, and graphing. They then move on to material necessary to prepare them for returning to mainstream courses: powers and exponents, ratio and proportion, and solving simple equations.
The student materials can compliment an existing classroom text or serve as a stand-alone text, and be used either as a requisite mathematics course or as a mathematics elective. The most successful uses of the materials have been the latter: assigning students to an additional elective mathematics course using these energetic, active, and contextual treatments of concepts that have previously caused them to stumble.
Most importantly, the teacher of this curriculum is provided with an extensive set of teacher materials (almost 4 pages for every student page) that provide:
- detailed instructions for classroom activities (over ten choices per unit),
- real world examples and applications,
- hands-on activity handouts and blackline masters,
- activity equipment lists,
- technology ancillaries, and
- day-by-day lesson plans and teacher notes.
The developed materials have proven themselves‡ to be suitable for a one-year remediation of poor-performing middle school students. Professional development with accompanying student materials are available from CORD. Contact Teemus Warner at twarner@cord.org for more information.
‡See results of the pilot studies included in these web pages.
History of the Project
The project development schedule spanned a period of about 36 months, including input and authoring by several experienced mathematics teachers and consortium member state representatives. Development and trials with pilot materials began in mid-1998. (See 1998-1999 Pilot Study and 1999-2000 Pilot Study.) Field testing of near-final materials began in Fall 1999 at eleven sites across the U.S. (See 1999-2000 Field Test .) An unexpected additional year of data collection resulted in further confirmation of earlier results. (See 2000-2001 Pilot Study.)
A second-year of materials was originally planned. However, pilot testing indicates that most middle-school students are "rescued" after just one year of the highly active, contextual, and real-world experience delivered by the full use of Math That Works. Hence, a second year of curriculum was not deemed immediately necessary.
CORD is considering development of a 9th grade version of the materials to address the very real needs of remedial students at the high school. We welcome your input about this possible venture.
For more information about the history of this much-needed project, you can read the project prospectus, for which you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader (free from Adobe).
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