Effectiveness

Findings

The WWC review of interventions for Middle School Math addresses student outcomes in the math achievement domain. The findings below present the authors’ estimates and WWC calculated estimates of the size and the statistical significance of the effects of Cognitive Tutor ^® Algebra I on students.⁸

Math achievement

Ritter, Kulikowich, Lei, McGuire, & Morgan (2007) reported a positive but not statistically significant effect of Cognitive Tutor ^® Algebra I on the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Algebra End-of-Course Assessment. The effect size was large enough to be considered substantively important according to WWC standards (that is, at least 0.25).

In sum, one study showed a substantively important positive effect in the math achievement domain.

Rating of effectiveness

The WWC rates the effects of an intervention in a given outcome domain as positive, potentially positive, mixed, no discernible effects, potentially negative, or negative. The rating of effectiveness takes into account four factors: the quality of the research design, the statistical significance of the findings, the size of the difference between participants in the intervention and the comparison conditions, and the consistency in findings across studies (see the WWC Procedures and Standards Handbook, Appendix E).