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.
