WestEd Math Pathways & Pitfalls Wins Distinguished Achievement Award
Research-Based Curriculum Helps Students Turn Mistakes Into Learning
(06/23/2011) San Francisco, California — WestEd Math Pathways & Pitfalls has won the 2011 Distinguished Achievement Award in the Curriculum Category for Mathematics, Grades 6-12, from the Association of Educational Publishers.
Math Pathways & Pitfalls is founded on core principles for how children learn mathematics and a vision of rigorous and equitable academic achievement.
For the Distinguished Achievement Award, Math Pathways & Pitfalls was judged on the basis of quality of writing, educational value, originality, creativity, and audience interest. All entries underwent a two-tier judging process by highly qualified individuals who are experts in their respective areas.
"We're thrilled the judges have recognized the quality and strength of this curriculum," says Carne Barnett-Clarke, Senior Research Associate at WestEd and Director of Math Pathways & Pitfalls. "It's proven to help all students learn, in math class and beyond."
National randomized trial studies show this curriculum significantly increases the academic achievement of diverse students in all grades tested, including Latino/a students, English language learners, and English-proficient students.
A National Science Foundation study found that using Math Pathways & Pitfalls for 15 hours per year for 2 years raises standardized mathematics test scores and positively impacts mathematical language development.
A U.S. Department of Education study found significant positive impacts on both mathematics achievement and mathematical language development for all students studied, especially English language learner students.
Summaries of the research studies supporting Math Pathways & Pitfalls can be found at http://www.wested.org/cs/mpp/print/docs/mpp/studies.html.
Denver Public Schools selected the Math Pathways & Pitfalls curriculum as part of their annual summer academy for English language learners in 2010 and 2011.
"Math Pathways & Pitfalls provides our summer academy teachers with explicit guidance and a scaffolded approach for supporting students' development of academic language," says Cathy Martin, director of Mathematics and Science.
This year's coordinator of the summer program, Kris O'Clair, adds, "Teachers have embedded the Math Pathways & Pitfalls Discussion Builders prompts into the school year's mathematics instruction to increase student discourse."
For more information about Math Pathways & Pitfalls, including research studies, client success stories, and free sample lessons, please visit WestEd.org/mpp.
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About WestEd
WestEd, a national nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development, and service agency, works with education and other communities to promote excellence, achieve equity, and improve learning for children, youth, and adults. WestEd has 16 offices nationwide, from Washington and Boston to Arizona and California. Its corporate headquarters are in San Francisco. More information about WestEd is available at WestEd.org.
Contact Information
Matthew Spaur
415.615.3219
mspaur@wested.org