Despite recent small gains in mathematics achievement among public school students, data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) continue to show very low mathematics proficiency rates for high school students. In 2009, only 3 percent of 12th-grade students reached an advanced level of performance, only 26 percent were performing at the proficient level or above, and 36 percent scored below the basic level (National Center for Education Statistics, 2010).

Furthermore, large gaps in the performance of students from different racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups persist on NAEP and other measures of academic achievement. The 2009 NAEP 12th-grade results (National...

The evaluation of the effectiveness of the CTAI curriculum included schools from 49 urban, suburban, and rural districts in six states.¹ Schools were randomly assigned to receive CTAI or to continue using the school’s existing algebra I curriculum. The number of participating schools within each district ranged from one, in small districts, to 45 in a large urban district. For the effectiveness study, schools were paired prior to random assignment based on similarity of characteristics (e.g., middle or high school, mathematics proficiency rates, socioeconomic status, and racial/ethnic composition, state, etc.). In larger districts, schools were paired within-district; in medium to...

The CTAI textbooks are designed to be written in and consumed by a single student, so a full set of new textbooks must be provided to each student. The Cognitive Tutor software program is a major aspect of the CTAI curriculum, with Carnegie Learning recommending that 40 percent of class time be spent using the software. In addition to the CTAI textbook, districts must therefore purchase software licenses. These licenses can be purchased either for individual students or for entire schools. The significant role that the software component plays in the CTAI curriculum may also necessitate significant investments in technology...

This cost feasibility analysis indicates that, for the most common types of expenditures that make up curriculum costs, CTAI is more expensive than what is typically spent on other algebra curricula in districts participating in this study. Table 4.1 presents the cost estimates for the various aspects of the CTAI and comparison curricula for districts, excluding HISD (discussed below).

Although comparison curriculum algebra I textbooks tend to have higher initial purchase prices, they are used for multiple years and end up costing less than CTAI materials over the course of an algebra I curriculum adoption. Excluding HISD, the textbook cost...