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An Evaluation of Elementary Math Curricula

National achievement data show that elementary school students in the United States, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, have weak math skills. In fact, data show that, even before they enter elementary school, children from disadvantaged backgrounds are behind their more advantaged peers in basic competencies such as number-line ordering and magnitude comparison.

A variety of approaches to improve student math achievement have been studied. For example, some research has examined the effects of approaches to increase the number of effective teachers, and other research has examined the effects of different school governance strategies such as charter schools. However, there is little rigorous research evidence on the effects of different curricula. Information about their relative effects could be useful to educators seeking to improve student math achievement, particularly at the early elementary level where a small number of curricula dominate math instruction.

This study helps to fill that knowledge gap by examining whether some early elementary school math curricula are more effective than others at improving student math achievement in disadvantaged schools. The study compares four elementary school math curricula that are widely used in the early elementary grades and differ in their approaches to mathematics instruction:

• Investigations in Number, Data, and Space,  published by Pearson Scott Foresman
  
  
• Math Expressions, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  
  
• Saxon Math, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  
  
• Scott Foresman-Addison Wesley Mathematics, published by Pearson Scott Foresman.
  
  (For more information on each curriculum, click here.)

A competitive process was used to select the curricula, and the study recruited 111 schools from 12 districts to participate for at least one year. The study team randomly assigned the four curricula to the participating schools within each study district. Though not a representative sample of all elementary schools in the United States, the study schools are dispersed geographically and in areas with various levels of urbanicity. The participating schools also serve a higher percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price meals than the average U.S. elementary school.

The first two study reports (Agodini et al. 2009 and Agodini et al. 2010) present the relative effects of the curricula after one year of curriculum implementation. New results (Agodini et al. 2013) present the relative effects of the curricula on student achievement after two years of curriculum implementation. These second-year effects are based on 58 of the 111 schools.

The study involved intense data collection during the 2006-2007, 2007-2008, and 2008-2009 school years: the study team administered standardized tests to students, surveyed teachers, observed classroom instruction, observed teacher curricula training, and collected student demographic information.

Publications

"After Two Years, Three Elementary Curricula Outperform a Math Fourth" (September 2013)
Technical Appendix

"Instructional Practices and Student Math Achievement: Correlations from a Study of Math Curricula" (September 2013)
Technical Appendix

"Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings for First and Second Graders," NCEE Study Snapshot (October 2010)

"Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula: Findings for First and Second Graders" (October 2010)

"Achievement Effects of Four Early Elementary School Math Curricula Findings from First Graders in 39 Schools" (February 2009)

"Design for the Evaluation of Early Elementary School Mathematics Curricula" (January 2008)