She will also be the coordinator of the Institute for Science and Math at her school. Oregon and Washington continue to implement Standards- based education in their schools. These requirements have helped motivate many schools to look for new ways of teaching mathematics. Because the integrated nature of IMP and its problem-based approach is such a strong complement for obtaining a CIM, many schools are interested in learning more about IMP and its teaching philosophy. Initial results of a matched-pair study involving IMP students and students enrolled in the traditional sequence show a greater persistence of IMP students in taking a fourth year of mathematics.
More results are forthcoming.
Spring 1997 Northwest IMP is currently working with six schools in Oregon and Washington, serving 30 teachers and 900 students. We project increased participation next year in Olympia, Washington, and other surrounding cities, funded in part by grants from the Intel and Noyce foundations. With IMP, we are finding that more students stay enrolled in mathematics and are more confident about their mathematical abilities. Fall 1997 Congratulations to Brent McClain, an IMP teacher at Westview High School in Beaverton, Oregon, who was last year's recipient of the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching from the state of Oregon. This year, Brent has come out of the classroom to help provide support for schools implementing IMP, and also to work on a NSF-sponsored grant to improve teacher training in the state of Oregon.