One line of questioning that was repeatedly voiced at the conference Rethinking the Preparation for Calculus revolved around determining what works and what doesn't work. Participants asked: “How can we determine whether or not new pedagogical approaches or new curricular materials are effective? How can we measure the impact of a new approach on student learning?” In order to convince colleagues to adopt new pedagogies and instructional materials, we not only need data to show that there is a problem, we also need to measure the effectiveness of alternative approaches. In this section, Florence Gordon looks at the results of a study that compared student performance, success, retention, and attitudes in a reform version of precalculus and in a traditional version of the same course. Rebecca Walker reports on the experiences of college students who prepared to continue their study of mathematics in a reformed high school environment.

Florence Gordon reports that in the fall of 1999, when some mathematics faculty at NYIT decided to teach a reform version of precalculus, several other faculty members objected to the change. As a result, the department decided to compare the performances of students in two traditional and two reform sections of precalculus.