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University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP): A curriculum that aims to support student development of deeper conceptual mathematical understanding by presenting challenging mathematics, emphasizing real-world applications, and using technolog

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Intervention Details

Subjects

N/A

Academic Program

General Education

Duration

1 academic year (or 4 years for multiple UCSMP courses)

Grades

2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Personnel

General Education Teacher

Intervention Summary

University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) is a curriculum that aims to support student development of deeper conceptual mathematical understanding. The curriculum presents students with challenging mathematics and aids in student acquisition of skills and concepts, focusing on bringing the real world into the classroom by emphasizing reading, problem-solving, everyday applications, and the use of calculators, computers, and other technologies. Each UCSMP course includes a student textbook, teacher's edition, teacher resources, assessment resources, and technology resources. Lessons in the student book contain activities, full examples, and partially completed guided examples to model skills and problem-solving. Students are encouraged to assess their own understanding with an End-of-Chapter Self-Test correlated to objectives. Projects provided at the end of each chapter are designed as extended activities, giving students experience using real data. The use of technology, including graphing calculators at all grade levels, geometry systems, spreadsheets, the Internet, and other computer applications, is an essential component of the curriculum.

Statistical Finding Summary

Positive effect on general mathematics achievement

Positive effect on algebra.

Source

U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, What Works Clearinghouse. (2016). University of Chicago School Mathematics Project (UCSMP) Algebra. Retrieved from https://ies.ed.gov/ncee/WWC/intervention/378.

Data Sample by Population

These charts show the characteristics of the student populations studied. When assessing programs, you may want to prioritize interventions that yielded success in a similar demographic environment as your school or district.

The subgroup population data as studied here are not available. That means that while this study may work well for your setting, we cannot say based on the published study and results from our system’s reading of that study what the school/district subgroup characteristics were when evaluated here.