In years past, Georgia math students simply followed procedure.

They were given a formula. They plugged numbers into that formula. They calculated the answers. They moved on.

No longer.

New math curricula introduced three years ago require students to consider "why" they arrived at an answer as much as "how."

High school freshmen who once took algebra now take Math 1, which includes elements of algebra, geometry, trigonometry and statistics. New math curricula will continue to be introduced in classes for the next three years, following the students through graduation.

Some say the new math is tougher -- for students and for teachers.

"We struggled at the beginning," Columbia County's director of high school student learning, Rose Carraway, said of administrators and math teachers. "We dropped back and punted, brought in some additional professional learning."

Despite the difficulties, students seem to be getting it, Dr. Carraway said.

System officials recently conducted an assessment study to gauge freshmen performance with the new curriculum. They discovered the failure rate remains the same, 19 percent, for Math 1 students as it was for last school year's algebra students.

However, Columbia County surpassed the state passing percentage by 20 points and the average of area counties belonging to the Central Savannah River Regional Educational Service Agency by six points.

"It was a remarkable achievement," Dr. Carraway said. "We did anticipate that there would be a higher failure rate, because it is hard and new."

Richmond County and state school officials didn't immediately provide data last week on the performance of Math 1 students.

Heavier on word problems, the new curriculum encourages students to consider the real-life applications of math.

"Traditional math was all computational-based," Dr. Carraway said. "We were given a formula. We were given the variables. We solved the problem based upon a procedure. Now, the methodology is to pose a real-life situation."

Christa Burch, a Math 1 teacher and math department chairwoman at Lakeside High School, said the new curriculum forced her to completely alter her teaching style.

"This is less stand and deliver," she said. "You have to engage them more in the learning process."

As a result, Ms. Burch said, she believes her students will retain more of the concepts.

"If you can explain why something is useful and how you solve a problem, you understand it much more deeply," she said.

For those unable to comprehend the new way of teaching, high schools are offering math support courses as electives, Dr. Carraway said.

"To put every child in a Math 1 class without support is academic suicide," she said.

Though the transition continues to be difficult, Dr. Carraway said it is a good move.

"Math is no longer about solving problems in isolation," she said. "It's solving problems in real-world applications. The kids are having to ask themselves, 'How can I use algebra or geometry to solve this problem?' "