Since its inception in 2005, the GE Foundation's Developing Futures in Education program has contributed to improvements in student performance in mathematics in the four urban school districts where it has been implemented, a new report from the Consortium for Policy Research in Education finds.

The program, which the foundation recently expanded with a grant of more than $200 million, was first implemented in Jefferson County, Kentucky (which includes Louisville) in the 2005-06 school year, followed by Cincinnati and Stamford, Connecticut, during the 2006-07 school year, and Erie, Pennsylvania, in the 2007-08 school year. Based on an analysis of individual student records over a ten-year period, the report, The Impact of the GE Foundation Developing Futures in Education Program on Mathematics Performance Trends in Four Districts (30 pages, PDF), found that while the efforts in each district were different due to specific district needs, the program overall has contributed to improvements in student performance in math in all four districts.

The report also found that the implementation of the program in Cincinnati, Jefferson County, and Stamford marked the beginning of significant gains in end-of-year state test performance in each of those districts, while in Erie the introduction of the program marked the stabilization of downward trends in test performance. According to the Stamford Advocate, CPRE research found that Cincinnati and Jefferson County saw an improvement of about 6 percent in math scores, while Stamford experienced a 4 percent increase and Erie saw an increase of 2 percent.

"The analysis of nearly a decade of data demonstrates that the Developing Futures program has had a significant positive impact on students' mathematics scores in participating districts," said Jonathan Supovitz, co-director of CPRE. "The results of this study in particular make a compelling case that improvements are directly attributable to education reform efforts driven by GE Foundation."