Pearson Successmaker Math Efficacy Study 2009-10 Final Report

SuccessMaker Math RCT Gatti Evaluation Inc. 9-15-10and uses this method infrequently. Most teachers incorporate educational websites and computergames into their math instructions and some also use interactive whiteboards.The Arkansas school has a nice computer lab with more than 30 terminals. The SuccessMakerteachers took their students to use the program in the computer lab two days a week for thirtyminutes. SuccessMaker classrooms used the math portion of the program as part of their normalmathematics instruction. The median 3 rd grade student used the math program approximately 18hours, attempting 41 exercises every thirty minutes with a success rate of 70%. The medianstudent in the 5 th grade used the math program approximately 18 hours, attempting 49 exercisesevery thirty minutes with a success rate of 70%.California DistrictThe participating California elementary school resides in a suburb of a large city. In 2008-09 theschool district served a community of more than 100,000. The median household income isapproximately $60,000 indicating an upper-middle class community. The school is located in amostly Hispanic, low socio-economic area and has a high number of students that are Englishlanguage learners. Students are required to wear uniforms at this Title I school. Teachers arechallenged by the fact that many of their students are below-grade level and receive limitedsupport at home. Additionally, the district has recently undergone severe budget cuts and wasforced to lay off many teachers.The elementary school in California is a medium size school serving almost 600 students ingrades kindergarten through five. The school has one primary ethnic group, Hispanic, makingup a total of 97% of the school population. This school falls into the high range for participationin the nation’s free or reduced-price lunch program with 85% of students eligible to receive freeor reduced-price lunch. Approximately 55% of the students are designated as not Englishproficient.The elementary school did not meet AYP in the 2008-09 school year. The percentage of 3 rdgrade students testing at standard in mathematics in the 2008-09 school year was 50%, 14%lower than the statewide results. The percentage of 5 th grade students testing at standard inmathematics in the 2008-09 school year was 26%, 31% lower than the statewide results. Thepercentage of 3 rd grade students testing at standard in English language arts was 31%, coming in13% lower than the statewide results. The percent of 5 th grade students testing at standard inEnglish language arts was 39%, 15% lower than the statewide results. The student/teacher ratiois approximately 21 to 1.A total of seven teachers participated in the SuccessMaker study from the California school, fiveat 3 rd grade and two at 5 th . None of these teachers were new to the school or district, but threewere new to their grade level. Two 3 rd grade classrooms and one 5 th grade classroom wererandomly assigned to use the SuccessMaker math program. Those teachers randomly assignedto use the SuccessMaker Math program were trained three months after school began onDecember 11 th . These teachers also received an additional training in March. Studentscompleted baseline testing the week of December 15 th and tested again the week of June 9 th .Students’ last week using the program was the first week of June.The district adopted a widely published elementary basal mathematics curriculum with a latecopyright date. Most teachers at the California school heavily supplement the district adopted- 23 -