led to high marks

at four schools

A school system study, released quietly in February, showed that students in a small mathematics pilot program did significantly better than their peers who were not in the program.

The study examined the second year of student performance in four elementary schools that used the Singapore Math program during the 2001-2002 school year. The four elementary schools were College Gardens in Rockville, Charles Drew in Silver Spring, Highland View in Silver Spring and Woodfield in Gaithersburg.

Singapore Math was developed by the government of that southeast Asian country. It became popular in the United States after students in Singapore ranked first in international comparisons of mathematical abilities in 1995 and 1999.

The Singapore Math curriculum relies heavily on helping students master basic math facts before moving on to more theoretical concepts. Many critics of the county's regular mathematics curriculum have faulted it for "being a mile wide and an inch deep" -- trying to teach too many things without giving students a solid foundation.

County researchers compared the four elementary schools using Singapore Math with schools that did not have the program. The study used school system tests and the Comprehensive Tests of Basic Skills. It also compared which middle school mathematics courses students enrolled in after two years of Singapore Math.

The study's authors were unambiguous about the success of Singapore Math.

"The results from Year 2 implementation of the quarterly assessments mirror the trends seen in Year 1 implementation. For every assessment, at every grade level, students in the Singapore Math pilot schools performed significantly higher" than schools that did not have the program, the report states.

The Singapore Math schools also scored higher, generally, on the CTBS mathematics and mathematics computation tests, the report states.

And the two schools that implemented the Singapore program more fully scored higher in both areas than the other two schools using the curriculum, according to the study.

"The results support what we curriculum freaks have insisted all along: Math is math, and if you learn it well, you'll perform well on math tests," said Laurie Sekiguchi, a critic of the county's regular mathematics curriculum.

Sekiguchi also argues that College Garden's scores on the state's new Maryland School Assessments show that Singapore Math is more effective at helping minority students and students from low-income families.

"I've heard a principal argue against Singapore Math on the grounds that minorities and [special education] won't do well because it's visual," she said. "What complete hogwash. These results should have [school system] administrators hopping up and down, shouting to the world that they've found a way to improve mathematics achievement among students of every category."

Despite high praise from the study's authors, the program faces an uncertain future in the county. The school system will not pay for the materials or teacher training after this year, forcing schools to pay for those things out of their own budgets.

"We'll always teach the elements of Singapore Math," said Eileen Macfarlane, principal of Drew Elementary School.

Drew Elementary dropped the Singapore Math program last year because the county's new curriculum is more aligned with the state tests, Macfarlane said.

Schools are required by the federal No Child Left Behind law to meet yearly testing targets on the state tests.

Woodfield Elementary School is still using the Singapore Math program in some grades this year, but it will begin using the county's new curriculum next year, said Principal Shawn Miller.

The county's new math curriculum is more rigorous, like the Singapore Math program, Miller said, and teacher training is focused on the new curriculum.

But the effects of the Singapore program will have some lasting effects, he said.

"We will take what we learned from Singapore with us to the new curriculum," Miller said. "Good math instruction is good math instruction."