Evidence of disastrous consequences of "integrated" (or "reform") math curricula at Columbia Public Schools:

Table of contents

1. Dropping Math MAP Scores in CPS relative to Statewide Averages
2. Math ACT Scores for Students in Integrated ("reform math") track course are dramatically lower than for students in the corresponding standard Algebra track course.
3. AP Calculus Exam Scores are higher for students in Algebra track versus students in integrated track.
4. Evidence of CPS students "Hitting the wall" at the end of middle school.
5. Readiness for Algebra drops with Connected Math
6. 4th Grade Terra Nova Scores drop after TERC adoption
7. "Great Expectations" program risks obscuring specific indicators of future student performance

1. Dropping Math MAP Scores in CPS relative to Statewide Averages

CPS regularly proclaims that since CPS MAP scores are above MO averages, our curriclum is working. However, that is not the relevant comparison. We need to look at the difference betwen Columbia scores and Missouri scores over time.

Overall CPS scores have shown a dramatic decrease relative to overall Missouri scores. This trend is even larger for specific subgroups, particularly middle and junior high scores.

Difference in Math MAP scores between Columbia and Missouri

** MAP was re-scaled

Additional info is available on the Columbia district profile from DESE database of state district data.

2. Math ACT Scores for Students in Integrated ("reform math") track course are dramatically lower than for students in the corresponding standard Algebra track course.

Math ACT for by math course ( from data requested from Chip Sharp by Columbia Parents for real math)

3. AP Calculus Exam Scores are higher for students in Algebra track versus students in integrated track.

The Junior High and High School schedules of courses make the claim that integrated and traditional math courses equally prepare students for calculus. The data show otherwise.

( from data requested from Chip Sharp by Columbia Parents for real math )

4. Evidence of CPS students "Hitting the wall" at the end of middle school.

Conclusion of Prof. Tom Parker's partial list of objections to TERC:

"TERC students will hit a wall, probably at the end of middle school. They are not being given the grounding needed to understand the abstractions of high school algebra and geometry. Their options for careers in science and engineering are being closed off by their elementary school program."

Data from Report on Progess - Board of Education Goals - November 2007:

page 10 - MAP Mathematics

detail from the above graph.... This graph shows 2007 CPS MAP score vs. 2007 MO Map scores. Note that CPS students MAP scores drop precipitously from garde 6 to grade 7, reflecting "lack of grounding needed to understand abstractions of algebra and geometry". The MO MAP scores show only a slight drop. Map scores increase in grade 8, and more in grade 10, as some students start taking the algebra sequence.

page 11 MAP Mathematics 2006-2007, CPS Successive Groups Analysis

page 11 detail... This graph shows 2 years of data for CPS MAP scores( 2006 & 2007) . Again, note the dramatic drop in students going from grade 6 to grade 7, indicating the drop in the previous graph was NOT a one time fluke.

Page 12 Map Mathematics 2006-2007, CPS Longitudinal Analysis

page 12 detail... This graph shows the MAP scores for the same students as they go from grade 6 to grade 7. Again, scores in grade 7 drop significantly.

5. Readiness for Algebra drops with Connected Math

From Columbia Parents for Real Math blog, April 9, 2007

6. 4th Grade Terra Nova Scores drop after TERC adoption

CPS TerraNova scores dropped five percent after adoption of the "reform math" TERC Investigations curriculum. From Columbia Parents for Real Math

7. "Great Expectations" risks obscuring specific indicators of future student performance

From "Great Expectations: Report to the Superintendent, May 2007", on the CPS website:

What is the "Great Expectations" program?

During the 2006-2007 school year, Columbia Public Schools continued planning for an internal accountability system, in order to more accurately and comprehensively report student outcomes and to better inform continuous improvement. This report summarizes the recommendations of the Great Expectations! Committee that guided that work. (p 2)

How will "value tables" be used in Great Expectations?

Conceptualized by researchers at the Center for Assessment and described in the paper, “Using Value Tables to Explicitly Value Student Growth” (2005), value tables simply compare the performance level score of each student at an initial and subsequent time period, and then assign a numerical value to that change. Higher values are assigned to results that are more highly valued.
(p 15)

The final values chosen will result from continued deliberation among district stakeholders in the 2007-2008 school year. It is entirely possible that the district would choose to value growth from lower starting scores more dearly than growth at higher initial score levels. Or, the district may choose to use more than one value table, in order to do both: to analyze circumstances in which students with low initial scores make substantial progress and those in which initially higher scoring students maintain and accelerate that achievement. Both analyses provide different, but equally valuable, information for continuous improvement.
(p 16)

The "value tables" advocated in the Great Expectations are commonly called "weighted averages", and are viewed with great skepticism in the scientific and statistical communities because they allow data to "support" just about any pre-ordained "conclusion".

Conclusion - the time to act on the math curriculum is now. If things continue in this direction, the public may not get any meaningful indicators of student math performance in the future, and defenders of the status quo can assign "values" to claim that our curriculum is working great.

Link to page 2...