Research on high school math course taking documents the advantages of starting high school at or beyond Algebra 1. Fewer studies examine differentiation into remedial, general, and honors Algebra 1 course types by course rigor. This study examines how course grades and course rigor are associated with math attainment among students with similar…

This study compared the effects of an integrated reform-based curriculum to a subject-specific curriculum on student learning of 19,526 high school algebra students. Using hierarchical linear modelling to account for variation in student achievement, the impact of the reform-based "Core-Plus Mathematics" curricular materials on student…

This study addresses a longstanding question among high school mathematics teachers and college mathematics professors: Which is the best preparation for college calculus-- (a) a high level of mastery of mathematics considered preparatory for calculus (algebra, geometry, precalculus) or (b) taking calculus itself in high school? We used a data set…

Findings from three years of a longitudinal randomized control trial involving a national U.S. sample of Algebra 1 teachers and students are reported. The study examines the effects of a connected classroom technology (CCT) professional development and classroom intervention on student achievement when compared to classroom instruction with…

A variety of factors contributes to student achievement in mathematics, including but not limited to student behaviors and student, teacher, and school characteristics. The purpose of this study was to explore which of these factors have an impact on student mathematics achievement. The target population for this study was North Carolina Algebra…

We examined the effect of curriculum organization in US high schools where students could freely choose to study mathematics from textbooks that employed one of two types of content organization, an "integrated" approach or a (traditional) "subject-specific" approach. The study involved 2,242 high school students, enrolled in…

This study examined the effect of 2 types of mathematics content organization on high school students' mathematics learning while taking account of curriculum implementation and student prior achievement. Hierarchical linear modeling with 3 levels showed that students who studied from the integrated curriculum were significantly advantaged over…

Multisite trials can clarify the average impact of a new program and the heterogeneity of impacts across sites. Unfortunately, in many applications, compliance with treatment assignment is imperfect. For these applications, we propose an instrumental variable (IV) model with person-specific and site-specific random coefficients. Site-specific IV…

Objectives: Group-randomized designs are well suited for studies of professional development because they can accommodate programs that are delivered to intact groups (e.g., schools), the collaborative nature of professional development, and extant teacher/school assignments. Though group designs may be theoretically favorable, prior evidence has…

This study examined the factors that have an effect on student scores on the Florida End-of-Course (EOC) Assessment in four secondary Algebra 1 classrooms using interactive whiteboard tools (IWTs). Four teachers and 335 students were observed in one public suburban school in central Florida during the second half of the spring term. Hierarchical…