Pearson Successmaker Math Efficacy Study 2009-10 Final Report

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SuccessMaker Math RCT Gatti Evaluation Inc. 9-15-10of mathematics instruction. The median student used the math program approximately 21 hours,attempting 43 exercises every thirty minutes with a success rate of 63%.New York DistrictThe participating New York elementary school resides in a suburb of NYC. In 2008-09 theschool district served a community of 16,000. The median household income is approximately$74,000 indicating an upper-middle class community. Facilities are new at this school, as thebuilding is only two years old. This school draws from a low-income community, but sets highstandards for students, who are required to wear uniforms and demonstrate appropriate schoolbehavior. The school has been recognized for best practices and as a “Closing the Gap” school.Teachers are very proud and supportive of their students and describe them as making “learningtheir priority” and “surpassing goals despite some of the difficulties they face.”The school is mid-sized serving approximately 400 students in grades kindergarten through five.The school has one primary ethnic group, African-American, making up a total of 57% of theschool population. Hispanic students make up 39% of the school population. Multi-racialstudents make up the remaining 4% of the student population. This school falls into the highrange for participation in the nation’s free or reduced-price lunch program with 75% of studentseligible to receive free or reduced-price lunch. Approximately 22% of the students aredesignated as not English proficient. The student/teacher ratio is approximately 19 to 1.The elementary school did meet AYP in the 2008-09 school year. The percentage of 3 rd gradestudents testing at standard in mathematics in the 2008-09 school year was 98%, 5% higher thanthe statewide results. The percentage of 5 th grade students testing at standard in mathematics inthe 2008-09 school year was 98%, 10% higher than the statewide results. The percentage of 3 rdgrade students testing at standard in English Language Arts was 85%, coming in 9% higher thanthe statewide results. The percent of 5 th grade students testing at standard in English LanguageArts was 100%, 18% higher than the statewide results.There were four teachers that participated in the study from the New York elementary school.Out of two teachers in 3 rd grade, one was randomly assigned to use the SuccessMaker mathprogram, and one was assigned to the comparison group. In 5 th grade, there were also twoteachers and one was randomly assigned to the SuccessMaker group, while the other wasassigned to the comparison group. None of these teachers were new to the school or district.The district adopted a widely published elementary basal mathematics curriculum with a latecopyright date. Teachers receive training on the curriculum about twice a year and havefollowed this curriculum for an average of 3 years. The degree of curriculum implementationvaries by teacher. One teacher reported strict adherence to the district adopted curriculum, twoteachers reported using some supplementation, and the fourth teacher reported using heavysupplementation.Teachers at the New York school have daily math blocks ranging from 50 minutes to one hour.None of the teachers receive additional support in their classrooms during their math block. Allteachers adhere to a math teaching philosophy that combines skills-based and discovery-basedmethods. Teachers conduct math lessons using whole group instruction about 60% of the time,and small group instruction about 40% of the time. Teachers reported using a number ofstrategies for math instruction including cooperative learning, speed drills, centers, and leveled- 28 -
SuccessMaker Math RCT Gatti Evaluation Inc. 9-15-10instruction. As for technology, all teachers used educational websites and computer games. Oneteacher frequently uses their interactive white board for math instruction.The New York school has a good quality computer lab with over 40 Mac stations. TheSuccessMaker teachers took their students to use the program in the computer lab three days aweek for twenty minutes. The SuccessMaker classes used the math portion of the program inaddition to their block mathematics instruction. The median student in the 3 rd grade used themath program approximately 18 hours, attempting 42 exercises every thirty minutes with asuccess rate of 73%. The median student in the 5 th grade used the math program approximately16 hours, attempting 55 exercises every thirty minutes with a success rate of 67%.Those teachers randomly assigned to use the SuccessMaker Math program were trained a fewmonths after school began on December 8 th . These teachers also received an additional trainingin February and March. Students completed baseline testing the second week of February andtested again the week of June 14 th . Students’ last week using the program was the week of June22 nd .Table 3Gatti Evaluation SuccessMaker Math RCT Sample Demographic InformationGroupGrade1 StudentCount2 PercentOne GradeEquivalentBelowPercentNot EnglishProficientPercentReducedLunchPercentCaucasianPercentHispanic/NativeAmericanPercentAfricanAmerican/CaribbeanOtherEthnicity orNoInformationArizona District 1SMComparison330 (73%)15 (68%)47%53%57%33%97%100%17%13%63%80%13%7%7%0%SMComparison722 (69%)42 (72%)55%57%23%24%91%93%9%14%77%79%14%0%0%7%Arizona District 2SMComparison344 (69%)43 (68%)45%74%48%53%86%95%5%5%93%84%2%9%0%2%SMComparison538 (76%)42 (82%)45%83%50%38%87%86%5%10%87%86%5%2%3%2%SMComparison767 (74%)59 (81%)46%53%33%25%84%95%4%7%91%86%4%5%1%2%Arkansas DistrictSMComparison364 (97%)43 (96%)8%7%2%2%9%21%89%95%2%2%5%0%4%3%SMComparison549 (98%)43 (91%)12%9%4%7%12%12%88%93%4%0%2%0%6%7%- 29 -
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