IMP Evaluation Overview
An extensive evaluation of IMP was conducted by Norman Webb at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER). He has collected retention data in mathematics courses, high school grades, and comparative data on student Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) performance, as well as performance on activities involving probability, statistics, quantitative reasoning, and problem solving. Studies on student performance have been conducted at various IMP sites around the country. In addition, several studies were conducted by researchers outside IMP that compared IMP students to students in other programs on the basis of performance on tests and on attitudes.
Many of the studies comparing IMP students are summarized below. They are grouped in the following categories:
• High school grades and retention
• Student performance on standardized tests
• Performance comparison on other tests
• Comparison of attitudes
• Comparison of performance after secondary school
• We conclude this paper with some research questions.