Steve Williams
Among mathematics education research journals, JRME is unique. Because the Editorial Panel is a committee of NCTM, the question of how JRME can best contribute to the overall mission of the Council is a crucial one. The question is not whether JRME plays such a role but can JRME, a major research journal, do more to support NCTM’s goals?
John P. Smith II, Jon R. Star
Research on the impact of Standards-based, K-12 mathematics programs (i.e., written curricula and associated teaching practices) and of reform calculus programs has focused primarily on student achievement and secondarily, and rather ineffectively, on student attitudes. This research has shown that reform programs have competed well with traditional programs in terms of student achievement. Results for attitude
change have been much less conclusive because of conceptual and methodological problems. We critically review this literature to argue for broader conceptions of impact that target new dimensions of program effect and examine interactions between
dimensions. We also briefly present the conceptualization, design, and broad results of one study, the Mathematical Transitions Project (MTP), which expanded the range of impact along those lines. The MTP results reveal substantial diversity in students' experience within and between research sites, different patterns of experience between
high school and university students, and surprising relationships between achievement and attitude for some students.
Doulas H. Clements
Curriculum Research: Toward a Framework for “Research-based Curricula” Douglas H. Clements University at Buffalo, State University of New York Government agencies and members of the educational research community have petitioone for research-based curricula. The ambiguity of the phrase “research-based,” however, underm
Michael R. Harwell, Thomas R. Post, Yukiko Maeda, Jon D. Davis, Arnold L. Cutler, Edwin Anderson, Jeremy A. Kahan
The current study examined the mathematical achievement of high school studentsenrolled for 3 years in one of three NSF funded Standards-based curricula (IMP,CMIC, MMOW). The focus was on traditional topics in mathematics as measured bysubtests of a standardized achievement test and a criterion-referenced test of mathe-matics achievement. Students generally scored at or above the national mean on theachievement subtests. Hierarchical linear modeling results showed that prior mathe-matics knowledge was a significant but modest predictor of achievement, student SEShad a moderate effect, and increasing concentrations of African American studentsin a classroom were associated with a stronger effect of attendance on achievement. No differences on the standardized achievement subtests emerged among theStandards-based curricula studied once background variables were taken into account. The two suburban districts providing data for the criterion-referenced test achievedwell above the national norm.