EMPOWERING CHILDREN AND TEACHERS IN THE ELEMENTARY MATHEMATICS CLASSROOMS OF URBAN-SCHOOLS

Project IMPACT is a school-based teacher enhancement model for element ary mathematics instruction designed to foster student understanding a nd to support teacher change in predominantly minority elementary scho ols. Project teachers consider instructional approaches consistent wit h a cognitive, constructivist perspective for mathematics learning, em phasizing interaction and collaboration rather than limiting instructi on to a direct model. Data from the primary grades revealed that signi ficantly higher mathematics achievement scores for the children in the IMPACT schools emerged gradually and persistently over time, becoming more evident as the mathematical abstraction of the curriculum increa sed. Supported by mathematics specialists, instructional change occurr ed in most treatment classrooms, particularly in those schools where t he principal encouraged the reform.