The Impact of Advanced Curriculum on the Achievement of Mathematically Promising Elementary Students

Abstract

The primary aim of Project M3: Mentoring Mathematical Minds was to develop and field test advanced units for mathematically promising elementary students based on exemplary practices in gifted and mathematics education. This article describes the development of the units and reports on mathematics achievement results for students in Grades 3 to 5 from 11 urban and suburban schools after exposure to the curriculum. Data analyses indicate statistically significant differences favoring each of the experimental groups over the comparison group on the ITBS (Iowa Tests of Basic Skills) Concepts and Estimation Test and on Open-Response Assessments at all three grade levels. Furthermore, the effect sizes range from 0.29 to 0.59 on the ITBS Concepts and Estimation Scale and 0.69 to 0.97 on the Open-Response Assessments. These results indicate that these units, designed to address the needs of mathematically promising students, positively affected their achievement. Putting the Research to Use: To date, there is a paucity of research-based, challenging mathematics curriculum units designed specifically for mathematically promising elementary students. As a result, gifted programming for these students, if it exists within a district, often involves a collection of assorted math puzzles and problems or an above-grade-level textbook that was written for the average student. The findings from this curriculum study suggest to practitioners that mathematics curriculum units that are challenging and engaging with a focus on important math concepts and that encourage students to think and act like practicing mathematicians contribute to students' math achievement. The fact that this study was replicated with a second cohort strengthens the result. In addition, since almost 50% of the students came from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, the study illustrates that the curriculum was highly effective with this special population, while meeting the needs of all talented students.