Effects of an Inquiry-Oriented Curriculum and Professional Development Program on Grade 7 Students' Understanding of Statistics and on Statistics Instruction. REL 2021-055
Schoen, Robert C.; Koon, Sharon (2021). Regional Educational Laboratory Southeast. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED610166
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examining2,283Students, grade7
Single Study Review
Review Details
Reviewed: April 2023
- Single Study Review (findings for Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS))
- Randomized Controlled Trial
- Meets WWC standards with reservations because it is a cluster randomized controlled trial with high cluster-level attrition, but the analytic intervention and comparison groups satisfy the baseline equivalence requirement.
This review may not reflect the full body of research evidence for this intervention.
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Findings
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics (LOCUS) |
Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS) vs. Business as usual |
0 Days |
Full sample;
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51.10 |
48.87 |
Yes |
|
|
Evidence Tier rating based solely on this study. This intervention may achieve a higher tier when combined with the full body of evidence.
Sample Characteristics
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
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Female: 54%
Male: 46% -
Urban
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Florida
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Race Black 28% Other or unknown 26% White 46% -
Ethnicity Hispanic 34% Other or unknown 66% -
Eligible for Free and Reduced Price Lunch Other or unknown 100%
Study Details
Setting
The study took place in 7th grade regular and advanced math classrooms in Broward County, FL public schools.
Study sample
More than half of the study sample was female (54%). Students reported their race as White (46%) and Black (28%). Thirty-four percent reported their ethnicity as Hipsanic.
Intervention Group
Teachers in the intervention schools participated in the Supporting Teacher Enactment of the Probability and Statistics Standards (STEPSS) program. This entailed completing 4 days of paid professional development, and provision of a 12-lesson unit on Probability and Statistics. This program used inquiry-based learning, and replaced the standard curriculum.
Comparison Group
The comparison students received business as usual. Recommended pacing for the teaching of 7th grade probability and statistics allocates 24 days of instruction in regular math classes and 19 days in advanced classes.
Support for implementation
No support for implementation was described in the report.
An indicator of the effect of the intervention, the improvement index can be interpreted as the expected change in percentile rank for an average comparison group student if that student had received the intervention.
For more, please see the WWC Glossary entry for improvement index.
An outcome is the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are attained as a result of an activity. An outcome measures is an instrument, device, or method that provides data on the outcome.
A finding that is included in the effectiveness rating. Excluded findings may include subgroups and subscales.
The sample on which the analysis was conducted.
The group to which the intervention group is compared, which may include a different intervention, business as usual, or no services.
The timing of the post-intervention outcome measure.
The number of students included in the analysis.
The mean score of students in the intervention group.
The mean score of students in the comparison group.
The WWC considers a finding to be statistically significant if the likelihood that the finding is due to chance alone, rather than a real difference, is less than five percent.
The WWC reviews studies for WWC products, Department of Education grant competitions, and IES performance measures.
The name and version of the document used to guide the review of the study.
The version of the WWC design standards used to guide the review of the study.
The result of the WWC assessment of the study. The rating is based on the strength of evidence of the effectiveness of the intervention. Studies are given a rating of Meets WWC Design Standards without Reservations, Meets WWC Design Standards with Reservations, or >Does Not Meet WWC Design Standards.
A related publication that was reviewed alongside the main study of interest.
Study findings for this report.
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Tier 2 Moderate indicates moderate evidence of effectiveness, and
Tier 3 Promising indicates promising evidence of effectiveness,
as defined in the
non-regulatory guidance for ESSA
and the regulations for ED discretionary grants (EDGAR Part 77).