Improving Elementary Level Mathematics Achievement in a Large Urban District: The Effects of NIFDI-Supported Implementation of Direct Instruction in the Baltimore City Public School System

Abstract

In the late 1990s, in response to very low achievement scores, the Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) implemented curricular reforms. Eleven schools in the district introduced Direct Instruction as part of a whole school reform under the guidance of the National Institute for Direct Instruction. They began by implementing the reading curriculum and, one to two years later, added mathematics Direct Instruction, using Distar Arithmetic and Connecting Math Concepts. The Comprehensive Test of Basic Skills (CTBS) was administered to all first graders and all fifth graders in BCPSS in the spring of 6 school years: 1997-1998 through 2002- 2003. Data were obtained from over 40,000 first grade students on mathematics achievement in computations, concepts and applications, and a composite score. Of the students who were in first grade in 1997-98 and 1998-99, more than 4,500 remained in the system and in the same schools in 2001-02 and 2003-03.