Comprehensive School Mathematics Program: Difference between revisions

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'''Comprehensive School Mathematics Program''' (CSMP) stands for both the name of a curriculum and the name of the project that was responsible for developing curriculum materials.

Two major curricula were developed under CSMP project, Comprehensive School Mathematics Program(CSMP), a K-6 mathematics program for regular classroom instruction, and the Elements of Mathematics (EM) program, a grades 7-12 mathematics program for gifted students. EM treats traditional topics rigorously and in depth and was the only curriculum that strictly adhere to the Goals for School Mathematics: The Report of the Cambridge Conference on School Mathematics (1963). As a result, it includes much of the content generally required for an undergraduate mathematics major. These two curricula are unrelated to one another but certain members of the CSMP staff contributed to the development of both projects. (There was also some interaction with the [[Secondary School Mathematics Curriculum Improvement Study]] program being developed around the same time.) The Elements of Mathematics is widely used at the IMACS institute listed below.

What follows is a description of the K-6 program that was designed for a general heterogeneous audience.

The CSMP Project was established in 1966, under the direction of Burt Kaufman, who remained director until 1979 when Clare Heidema became director until 2003. It was originally affiliated with Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois. After a year of planning, CSMP was incorporated into the Central Midwest Regional Educational Laboratory (later CEMREL, Inc.), one of the national educational laboratories funded at that time by the U.S. Office of Education. (see Final Evaluation Report by Martin Herbert referenced below for more detail) . In 1984, the project moved to Mid-continental Research for Learning (McREL) Institute's Comprehensive School Reform program, who supported the program until 2003. Clare Heidema remained director to its conclusion. In 1984, it was implemented in 150 school districts in 42 states and about 55,000 students.

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==Current curriculum use==

Burt Kaufman, a mathematics curriculum specialist, headed the team at SIU writing CSMP. He eventually started the Institute for Mathematics & Computer Science (IMACS). IMACS appears to use elements of the program in their "Mathematics Enrichment" program. For instance, mini-computers and "Eli the Elephant" are present in the IMACS material. IMACS is a private education business focusing on the instruction of students from first grade through high school.{{cn|date=April 2016}}https://www.imacs.org/about/news/burt-kaufman.html

MathBRIX, a new venture funded in part by the National Science Foundation SBIR program, is a SaaS series of math games and activities designed to help all children, 4-8, develop mathematical reasoning and problem-solving skills. MathBRIX incorporates the proven CSMP visual learning strategies (strings, arrows, minicomputer)and its use of math manipulatives, as well as the overall methodology. The program will be launched in the fall of 2017 and will be accessible on iPads, Chromebooks and multiple devices. A free thirty day trial is offered. A number of the original CSMP developers are advisors to the project including Clare Heidema, CSMP Director for 25 years; and Dr. Tom Giambrone, CSMP developer in the 1980s and currently Professor of Mathematics at Buffalo State. Two of the early CSMP evaluators, Dr. Martin Herbert and Dr. Gail Marshall, have also contributed to the MathBRIX project.

==References==

*[http://stern.buffalostate.edu/Evaluation/1984CSMPFinalReport.pdf CSMP final evaluation report]

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*[http://www.imacs.org Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science]

*[http://www.mcrel.org MCREL]

*[http://www.mathbrix.com MathBRIX]

[[Category:Mathematics education]]