The Institute for Education Sciences at the US Department of Education issued a press release reporting a rigorous study conducted from 2006-2011 that compared the effects of the Connected Mathematics Project 2 (CMP2) with traditional mathematics curricula on achievement and engagement for 6th grade math students. Incoming Associate Professor Taylor Martin, was a lead investigator on this study and co-authored the report with members of the Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic at Penn State University. (The full report by Dr. Martin and colleagues is available here.)
CMP2, an innovative middle school mathematics curriculum, was developed by Michigan State University with funding from the National Science Foundation to encourage students to become responsible for their own mathematics learning and engage in substantive mathematical questioning and discussion with their peers. While many educators have enthusiastically embraced CMP2, this new study involving 70 schools in the mid-atlantic region found that 6th-grade students who experienced CMP2 did not have greater mathematics achievement or engagement than those who experienced other mathematics curricula.

Dr. Martin completed her PhD at Stanford University in 2003 and is currently a tenured faculty member at the University of Texas, Austin and also a Visiting Associate Professor at Utah State University. She will join the nationally recognized ITLS department at Utah State University as a tenured Associate Professor in August, 2012.