The Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) is a comprehensive high school mathematics curriculum designed to meet the standards set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. It is a four-year problem-based curriculum, replacing the traditional sequence of math classes taken in high school. It integrates all areas of math education by giving students complex, motivating problems that they work on individually and in groups to solve. The teacher's role is much different than that in a traditional math classroom. The emphasis in IMP is to guide students and help them make connections between the knowledge they have and the problem they are presented. Little time is spent lecturing to the class.

Currently, a long-term study is underway to see what happens to graduates of IMP after they leave high school. The authors do point out that IMP students are continuing with mathematics longer than students in traditional programs. The IMP program also allows the students to cover many topics that most high school students do not see until college, such as standard deviation.

The Interactive Mathematics Program seems to be a program dedicated to helping student to think, not just memorize facts and formulas. Integrating all areas of mathematics curriculum offers students the chance to transfer their learning from previous math courses to practical, relevant situations. Students are also expected to use words on a higher level. They must write and verbally explain to classmates and their teacher how they arrived at the solutions to their problem.

As the authors point out, this type of program takes tremendous amounts of time for the teacher to learn to use and then to implement. They do not specify how the students' work is evaluated. That too would be an area of difficulty for a teacher implementing the program. However, challenging students to think more critically and transfer their learning to new situations is a must in our school systems. This program and others like it deserve further examination.