On Evaluating Curricular Effectiveness: Judging the Quality of K-12 Mathematics Evaluations
Abstract
The Mathematical Sciences Education Board (MSEB) of the National Research Council has released an in depth report on evaluating school mathematics curricula. "Decision makers need a flexible evaluation framework that provides a highly reliable and informative means of curricular review that fits local goals and expectations. Moreover, curricular decisions must be reexamined periodically, and curricula need to be revised based on data and professional judgment... To address this issue a committee was assembled by the National Reseach Council in spring 2002... to collect the evaluation studies of certain mathematics curricula developed by for-profit companies or with National Science Foundation funds, or by a combination of the two, and to assess their quality. This report presents [the committee's] conclusions and provides recommendations for improvements to the evaluation process."
