diff --git a/econml/tree/_criterion.pxd b/econml/tree/_criterion.pxd
index 2eb6b8ba3..c0125d788 100644
--- a/econml/tree/_criterion.pxd
+++ b/econml/tree/_criterion.pxd
@@ -78,7 +78,9 @@ cdef class Criterion:
     cdef void node_value(self, double* dest) nogil
     cdef void node_jacobian(self, double* dest) nogil
     cdef void node_precond(self, double* dest) nogil
-    cdef double impurity_improvement(self, double impurity) nogil
+    cdef double impurity_improvement(self, double impurity_parent,
+                                     double impurity_left,
+                                     double impurity_right) nogil
     cdef double proxy_impurity_improvement(self) nogil
     cdef double min_eig_left(self) nogil
     cdef double min_eig_right(self) nogil
diff --git a/econml/tree/_criterion.pyx b/econml/tree/_criterion.pyx
index d0b12a92f..a2f9acdb3 100644
--- a/econml/tree/_criterion.pyx
+++ b/econml/tree/_criterion.pyx
@@ -209,7 +209,9 @@ cdef class Criterion:
         return (- self.weighted_n_right * impurity_right
                 - self.weighted_n_left * impurity_left)
 
-    cdef double impurity_improvement(self, double impurity) nogil:
+    cdef double impurity_improvement(self, double impurity_parent,
+                                     double impurity_left,
+                                     double impurity_right) nogil:
         """Compute the improvement in impurity
         This method computes the improvement in impurity when a split occurs.
         The weighted impurity improvement equation is the following:
@@ -218,22 +220,24 @@ cdef class Criterion:
         where N is the total number of samples, N_t is the number of samples
         at the current node, N_t_L is the number of samples in the left child,
         and N_t_R is the number of samples in the right child,
+
         Parameters
         ----------
-        impurity : double
-            The initial impurity of the node before the split
+        impurity_parent : float64_t
+            The initial impurity of the parent node before the split
+
+        impurity_left : float64_t
+            The impurity of the left child
+
+        impurity_right : float64_t
+            The impurity of the right child
+
         Return
         ------
         double : improvement in impurity after the split occurs
         """
-
-        cdef double impurity_left
-        cdef double impurity_right
-
-        self.children_impurity(&impurity_left, &impurity_right)
-
         return ((self.weighted_n_node_samples / self.weighted_n_samples) *
-                (impurity - (self.weighted_n_right / 
+                (impurity_parent - (self.weighted_n_right / 
                              self.weighted_n_node_samples * impurity_right)
                           - (self.weighted_n_left / 
                              self.weighted_n_node_samples * impurity_left)))
diff --git a/econml/tree/_splitter.pyx b/econml/tree/_splitter.pyx
index 557dc6e59..d022c2038 100644
--- a/econml/tree/_splitter.pyx
+++ b/econml/tree/_splitter.pyx
@@ -619,7 +619,6 @@ cdef class BestSplitter(Splitter):
             # passed here by the TreeBuilder. The TreeBuilder uses the proxy_node_impurity() to calculate
             # this baseline if self.is_children_impurity_proxy(), else uses the call to children_impurity()
             # on the parent node, when that node was split.
-            best.improvement = self.criterion.impurity_improvement(impurity)
             # if we need children impurities by the builder, then we populate these entries
             # otherwise, we leave them blank to avoid the extra computation.
             if not self.is_children_impurity_proxy():
@@ -630,6 +629,9 @@ cdef class BestSplitter(Splitter):
                 else:
                     best.impurity_left_val = best.impurity_left
                     best.impurity_right_val = best.impurity_right
+                
+            best.improvement = self.criterion.impurity_improvement(impurity, 
+            best.impurity_left, best.impurity_right)                    
 
         # Respect invariant for constant features: the original order of
         # element in features[:n_known_constants] must be preserved for sibling