February 2011

Improving Middle Grades Math Performance

A follow-up analysis to Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades: Why Some Schools Do Better.

EdSource is an independent, impartial, 501(c)(3), not-for-profit research and communications organization whose mission is to clarify complex education issues and to promote thoughtful policy decisions about public education improvement. EdSource's work focuses on the nexus between state and federal education policy and local district and school reforms. Founded in California in 1977, EdSource serves as a credible and respected source of education information, research, analysis, and data.

EdSource's audience includes individuals and organizations interested in K-14 policy and reform such as policymakers, researchers, K-12 and college educators, education media, business and civic leaders, and parent and community leaders.

In recent years, EdSource has become increasingly involved as a project director or partner on collaborative research projects with outstanding researchers in independent firms and on university faculties. EdSource previously served as a subcontractor to AIR and RAND in the four-year evaluation of California's K-3 class size reduction research consortium. From 2003 to 2007, EdSource was the prime contractor for a collaborative research project on elementary schools that resulted in two major studies: Similar Students, Different Results and Similar English Learner Students, Different Results. EdSource has also conducted original research studies and analysis on the academic performance of charter schools in California, school district financial management, and remedial coursetaking patterns in California Community Colleges.

The original study, Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades, was published in February 2010 and was the result of an 18-month collaboration between EdSource and researchers from Stanford University and AIR. The research team for the follow-up analysis on middle grades mathematics included many from the original team.

Trish Williams, project director

Executive Director
EdSource

Williams served as the project director for this analysis and for the Similar Students, Different Results and Gaining Ground in the Middle Grades research projects. Under Williams' leadership, EdSource has broadened the scope of education policy topics it studies, extended its mission from K-12 to K-14, diversified and significantly increased its audience reach within California and nationally, and enhanced its reputation as a unique, trusted, and credible resource for independent and impartial information on California's most important education issues, including school finance. Before coming to EdSource, Williams served as a management analyst in Washington D.C. at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and as a program and policy consultant to the Oklahoma Commission on Children and Youth. She holds a B.A. in English Literature and an M.A. in Public Policy from the University of Tulsa. 

Edward H. Haertel, senior technical consultant

Jacks Family Professor of Education
Stanford University

Haertel is an expert in educational testing and assessment. He is the Jacks Family Professor of Education at Stanford University and Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs. Haertel's research centers on policy uses of achievement test data; the measurement of school learning; statistical issues in testing and accountability systems; and the impact of testing on curriculum and instruction. Haertel has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, is a fellow of the American Psychological Association and is a member of the National Academy of Education. Haertel holds a B.A. in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Ph.D. in Measurement, Evaluation and Statistical Analysis from the University of Chicago.

Michael W. Kirst, senior policy consultant

Professor Emeritus of Education and Business Administration
Stanford University

Kirst is professor emeritus of education and business administration at Stanford University and an expert on student transitions. Kirst was a member of the California State Board of Education (1975-1982) and its president from 1977 to 1981. He co-founded Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE), and has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Sciences; a member of the National Academy of Education since 1979; vice-president of the American Educational Research Association; and commissioner of the Education Commission of the States. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College, an M.P.A. in Government and Economics and a Ph.D. in Political Economy and Government from Harvard University.

Jesse Levin, principal data analyst

Senior Research Scientist
American Institutes for Research

Levin, Senior Research Scientist at the American Institutes for Research (AIR), has been involved in a number of projects investigating educational production, school finance and adequacy, and resource allocation. He currently serves as Director of Research for the study “Strategic School Funding for Results”, Principal Analyst on the “National Evaluation of Magnet Schools” and Cost Analysis Task Leader on the “Gates Intensive Partnership Site Evaluation.” Prior to joining AIR, Levin served as an Economics Researcher for the Institute for Research of Schooling, Labor Market and Economic Development (SCHOLAR) in the Netherlands. Levin holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Amsterdam and the Tinbergen Institute.

Matthew Rosin

Senior Research Associate
EdSource

Rosin reviewed research and policy literature and took a lead role in the writing of both this follow-up analysis and the initial research report for the Gaining Ground study. He was also the primary author of EdSource's May 2009 publication, Algebra Policy in California. Much of Rosin's work has focused on topics related to secondary education and secondary-to-postsecondary transitions. Prior to joining EdSource, Rosin worked as a research scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching in Stanford, California. He is co-author (with William M. Sullivan) of A New Agenda for Higher Education: Shaping a Life of the Mind for Practice (Jossey-Bass, 2008), and author of Obsoleting Culture: Educational Conscience after Willy Loman (Sense Publishers, 2009). Rosin holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Texas A&M University and a M.A. in Philosophy and a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University.

Mary Perry

Deputy Director
EdSource

Perry was a primary author for EdSource's March 2004 publication, California's Middle Grades Students. She is widely known for her expertise in California school finance. She was project director for a 2010 EdSource study of remedial course-taking patterns in California Community Colleges. In 2006, she was the study project director for a collaborative partnership between EdSource and School Services of California under the auspices of the Getting Down to Facts portfolio of school finance studies. EdSource's work yielded a groundbreaking report in March 2007 called School District Finance Management: Personnel, Policies, and Practices. She holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in Liberal Arts from Stanford University.

Ben Webman

Senior Data Analyst
EdSource (formerly)

Webman assisted with statistical analyses on the study. Prior to joining EdSource, Webman was the senior planner at the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. He also served as the director of research at City Year, Inc. in Boston, MA and as the senior analyst in the Institutional Research Department at Eastern Connecticut State University. He holds a B.A. in History from Clark University, Worcester, MA and an Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education.