Impact of the Program
Rice at Large, a publication of the Office of Minority Community Affairs and the Office of the Associate Provost of Rice University, reported in its Fall 2007 edition that thanks to the Rice University Mathematics Leadership Institute (MLI), the number of teachers with Texas Master Mathematics Teacher (8-12) Certification has increased by more than 50%.
The Greentree Gazette, a bimonthly business magazine for higher education, recognized MLI's effect on the number of Master Mathematics teachers in Texas. The article, "Boosting Student Achievement in Math and Science," also noted that students of MLI teachers performed on a higher level on state and national standardized tests than students of other teachers, and that this academic improvement is reflected across the board, with increases in both the number of students passing and the number of students achieving commended status.
The Houston Independent School District's Research and Accountability Department analyzed the impact of teachers' participation in RUSMP. They reported that student performance was higher than district-wide performance on TAKS Mathematics in schools whose teachers participated in RUSMP. Furthermore, data indicate that RUSMP also has a positive effect on students whose teachers had participated in RUSMP. Evaluation of previous RUSMP programs shows greater levels of achievement for students whose teachers have completed an RUSMP program than for students of comparable teachers who have not. (May, 2004; May, 2005; May, 2006; May, 2007)
RUSMP's Geometry Module was recognized by the Math Forum as exemplary curriculum for mathematics educators (February 21, 2005).
Rice University and RUSMP's new National Science Foundation grant, the Mathematics Leadership Institute, was cited in the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics Winter Newsletter 2004. Instruction. Articles about the $3.8 million award also appeared in the Houston Business Journal (Week of January 7-13, 2005), The Memorial Examiner (January 24, 2005), The Northwest News (January 28, 2005), Ascribe: The Public Interest Newswire (January 28, 2005), The Houston Chronicle (December 29, 2004), and The Rice News Volume 14, Number 17 (December 16, 2004).
RUSMP was cited as a model program for its response to teacher preparation and teacher quality in Texas in Advanced Mathematics Educational Support: Support, Recommendations, and Resources for Facilitating Collaboration, Between Higher Education Mathematics Faculty and Texas Public High Schools. (Cannon, Parr, & Webb, 2003)
The Houston Chronicle article mentioning RUSMP's position in mathematics education reform (Gilbert, August 8, 2003) was shared by Professor Jerry Becker, Southern Illinois University via email with members of the National Council of Supervisors of Mathematics (August 11, 2003).
RUSMP was acknowledged as a program linking researchers and math teachers and offering courses for teachers in the Houston Chronicle (Gilbert, August 8, 2003).
RUSMP was one of four university centers cited in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as reaching out to schools to improve the teaching of mathematics. The article noted that RUSMP worked with school districts and private schools to overhaul the teaching of mathematics in the Houston area (McGee, August 3, 2003).
RUSMP's Summer Campus Program was cited in What Works in the Elementary School: Results-Based Staff Development as one of top four professional development programs in mathematics in the United States for its impact on student achievement in the elementary grades (Killion, 2002).
RUSMP's Summer Campus Program and the Houston Independent School District's (HISD) Algebra Initiative, an initiative that was jointly planned and implemented by HISD and RUSMP, were cited in What Works in the High School: Results-Based Staff Development as the top two professional development programs in mathematics in the United States for their impact on student achievement in the high school grades (Killion, 2002).
RUSMP was highlighted in the report Identifying High Performing Texas Schools and Their Methods of Success in Middle School Math and Algebra I End-of-Course Performance (Toenjes, & Garst, 2001) written by request for the Texas Education Agency.
RUSMP was cited in What Works in the Middle: Results-Based Staff Development as one of the top seven professional development programs in mathematics in the United States for its impact on student achievement in the middle grades (Killion, 1999).
RUSMP was spotlighted in the October 1999 issue of the Mathematics Teacher (Schweingruber, 1999).
RUSMP's Urban Program was the subject of the paper "The Marshall Plan: Rice University Mathematics Affiliates Program" in the November/December issue of Schools in the Middle, (Papakonstantinou, Berger, Wells, & Austin, 1996).
RUSMP's Master Teacher model was the focus of a paper, "Master Teachers as Teacher Role Models," in Mathematicians and Education Reform (1990).
Independent evaluations of RUSMP indicate that teachers who participated in the RUSMP Summer Campus Program changed their beliefs about mathematics and their classroom practices to better align to the NCTM Standards and increased their mathematical knowledge. Furthermore, their students performed significantly better on standardized tests than comparable students whose teachers had not participated in the Summer Campus Program (Brown, & Dial, 1994; Dial, 1996; Dial, 1997; Dial, 1998; Dial, 1999; Willis, 2000; McCoy, 2001; McCoy, 2002; McCoy, 2003; McCoy, 2004; McCoy, 2005).
Findings from RUSMP's Urban Program indicate a significant increase in student achievement on the mathematics section of the TAAS, reduced student drop-out rates, increased student interest in mathematics, and increased collaboration among teachers (Papakonstantinou, Berger, Wells, & Austin, 1996; Papakonstantinou, Hemphill, & Quast, 1996; Papakonstantinou, Stanley, & Wells, 1996; Schweingruber, 1999; Killion, 1999; Schweingruber, Posada, & Walker, 2000; Schweingruber, Couette, & King, 2000; Schweingruber, & Rasmussen, 2001; Schweingruber, Armstrong, & Ater, 2001).
The RUSMP/HISD Algebra Initiative significantly impacts student scores on the End-of-Course Algebra I Exam in participating schools, reduces isolation of mathematics teachers, improves instruction in mathematics, increases teacher understanding of mathematics, and increases use of appropriate technology and manipulatives (Schweingruber, Papakonstantinou, Herbert, & Rohr, 1998; Schweingruber, Papakonstantinou, Herbert, & Rohr, 1999).
RUSMP's statewide impact is evident in the number of similar projects that it has fostered and through the active participation of RUSMP personnel in the Texas Statewide Systemic Initiative.
Over 6,000 teachers have participated in RUSMP programs since 1987.