From It's About Time: The Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) is a growing collaboration of mathematicians, teacher-educators, and teachers who have been working together since 1989 on both curriculum development and professional development for teachers. With the support of the National Science Foundation, IMP has created a four-year program of problem-based mathematics that replaces the traditional Algebra I-Geometry-Algebra II/Trigonometry-Precalculus sequence and that is designed to exemplify the curriculum reform called for in the Curriculum and Evaluation Standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM).

The IMP curriculum integrates traditional material with additional topics recommended by the NCTM Standards, such as statistics, probability, curve fitting, and matrix algebra. IMP units are generally structured around a complex central problem. Although each unit has a specific mathematical focus, other topics are brought in as needed to solve the central problem, rather than narrowly restricting the mathematical content. Ideas that are developed in one unit are usually revisited and deepened in one or more later units.

The IMP curriculum has been thoroughly field-tested and enthusiastically received by hundreds of classroom teachers around the country. Their enthusiasm is based on the success they have seen in their own classrooms with their own students. These informal observations are backed by more formal evaluations.

Dr. Norman Webb, of the Wisconsin Center for Education Research, has done several studies comparing the performance of students using the IMP curriculum with the performance of students in traditional programs. For instance, Dr. Webb has found that IMP students do as well as students in traditional mathematics classes on standardized tests such as the SAT. This is especially significant because IMP students spend about 25 percent of their time studying topics that are not covered on these tests. To measure IMP students achievement in these other areas, Dr. Webb conducted three separate studies involving students at different grade levels and in different locations. The three tests used in these studies involved statistics, quantitative reasoning, and general problem solving. In all three cases, the IMP students outperformed their counterparts in traditional programs by a statistically significant margin, even though the two groups began with equivalent scores on eighth-grade standardized tests.

My husband and I are both engineers, and our daughter does have a gift for understanding math. However, she was struggling in the conventional math classes. She started IMP in the 8^th grade, and she loves it. And we love how she really gets into solving her homework problems and POWs. She has also challenged us with some of the problems as well. It has been interesting to see how the math concepts are taught and presented in such a way that really gets her and us to solve them from a completely different perspective than what we were taught when we were her age. I would highly recommend IMP for all students, those that struggle and even those that excel. It really makes math fun.

• Ross and Candee Hoecker, parents of Codee Hoecker

My creativity as a problem solver was greatly strengthened by my exposure to a wide range of ideas and thought processes found in a heterogeneous classroom like IMP where I could interact with a diverse group of peers. I have found that my experience with generating then evaluating the merits of different strategies in IMP has been incredibly valuable beyond IMP when it came to tackling problems I've never seen before.

• Rianna Jitosho, former IMP student, enrolled at MIT

I came into IMP with zero confidence in math, and now I consider myself an A student, in grades and mental attitude. It is a great experience, and I would recommend it to anybody who thinks outside the box, or is just tired of doing problems without understanding them.

• Connor Witt, student

IMP has taught me to see not just math, but the world in a different way. It has caused me to think and try to understand why certain things work the way they do. I can now relate math to realistic situations and understand it on a whole new level. Before IMP, I didn’t think that math would help me in a job situation, but after IMP, I realized that math has to do with practically every major job.

• Justine Savedra, student

What IMP has taught me about myself is that I am much better at understanding math when I can see what uses the math we are learning has in daily life.

• Mick Smith, student

IMP has made a world of difference for my son. He always struggled with math but was great at Language Arts.  When I read the description for IMP, I thought this may be the math he needs.  He went from being barely a C student to an A student. I knew we made the right choice when he said one day “Mom, math finally makes sense.”

• Carol Millender, parent of Austin Millender

My child loves this program and seems to get more excited about math every class.  It challenges her to think differently and put thought and explanation in her work. Based on what she shows me, I wish that I had the opportunity to take this class instead of [the math I took].    

• Penny Galloway, parent of Victoria McDermott

We have noticed that our son has begun to enjoy math more and we believe it is because of IMP. He shares concepts with us and demonstrates his knowledge with real world examples at home. We are happy with his progress, and glad he has found a way to learn that fits his style. It is a great way to teach math concepts.

• Liz Bear & Jeff Gothard, parents of Grayson & Noah Gothard

At the beginning, I was a bit skeptical about IMP. I was unsure if my son would be able to use IMP with the math he had previously learned. This is his third year in IMP and my son has been able to integrate everything that he has learned and has also grown in his critical thinking, writing, and interpersonal skills.

• Guysella Loayza, parent of Michael Gomez

Dominique really enjoys IMP. Just like it was explained to us at the initial orientation, there was a transition period, but once it clicked, there was no going back to regular math. Math is now a subject she really likes and we believe the practicality of the method has made a huge difference in her attitude towards the science.

• Monica Bowden, parent of Dominique Bowden

As a student who is stronger in language than math, I have found that in past math classes, I often felt a sense of hopelessness, like I was never going to understand the concepts being taught. Now that I’m in IMP, even though I don’t always understand the concepts right away, I know that I will be able to grasp the ideas with all the support each student receives from the teacher and our groupmates. We are given time to let the information “sink in” and are always graded fairly, as the teacher understands that understanding the process is more important than getting an answer, which is something that I didn’t see in past math classes. Even though it’s not easy, I feel like I’ve grown as a student, along with a deeper understanding of math as a whole, and a stronger confidence for tackling whatever challenges I face in my career as a student.

• Sophie Joan, student

What I've learned after joining the IMP family is that it is a lot different than you would expect. It is not all about word problems, it actually uses a lot of algebraic math and I enjoy that. Also a thing that really appealed to me was the fact that every unit is about gaining the knowledge necessary to answer the big unit question. It gives you a goal to set for and achieve. Overall I am glad I joined IMP because it is a great integrated way of learning and thinking.

• Kaiden Talesh, student

The IMP curriculum provided my child the opportunity to have an in-depth understanding of mathematical concepts and more importantly, she learned many ways to apply what she learns in her everyday life. I am very pleased that the curriculum challenges students to explore real-life problem situations in an organized and planned fashion. I believe that the curriculum encourages creativity and self-confidence. It strengthens their reasoning abilities as well as writing skills. There is group learning in class and at home.

The problem of the Week (POWs) specifically are especially fun for my child. The children are not expected to solve the POWs easily in a short period of time. However, POWs help the students develop carefully planned thoughts and ideas, and to persevere with their own thinking processes. I believe that the benefit is that the child is able to explain and illustrate their ideas, solutions or strategies, and even learn how to express their reasonings in clearly written reports. The IMP curriculum has an innovative approach that makes students want to learn more and more importantly apply what they learn.

• Anna Marie Jitosho, parent of Rika Jitosho (2008-11) and Rianna Jitosho (2009-13)