Sarama, J., Clements, D. H., Wolfe, C. B., & Spitler, M. E. (2012). Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 5(2), 105–135. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ961450
Reviewed: February 2018
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.
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
This sample compares the Triad Follow Through with the comparison group.;
|
53.22 |
51.61 |
Yes |
|
|
|
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
This sample compares the TRIAD No Follow Through intervention group with the comparison group.;
|
52.64 |
51.61 |
Yes |
|
||
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
This sample compares the two treatment groups: Triad Follow Through students with the Triad No-Follow Through students.;
|
53.22 |
52.64 |
No |
-- | ||
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 53% | |
| Other or unknown | 19% |
| Hispanic | 22% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 78% |
The study was conducted in Buffalo, New York and Boston, Massachusetts in pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes in 42 schools in two districts.
The sample is evenly distributed by gender, includes 53% African American students, 22% Hispanic Students, and 19% white students. 82% receive a subsidized lunch and 13% are English language learners.
The intervention condition is Building Blocks web-based professional learning software and TRIAD, a Technology-enchanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development. The intervention was administered for two years (from pre-Kindergarten through Kindergarten). There was also a second, supplemental intervention group that received the intervention for one year (only in pre-Kindergarten). TRIAD is a math intervention that combines a curriculum, a software-based teaching tool, and in-person professional development for teachers. The overarching goal of these combined components is to help teachers individualize their teaching to each child’s needs. The follow-through component of the intervention was to educate kindergarten teachers about the learning trajectories of their entering students and methods of building upon the initial intervention received in preschool. The TRIAD curriculum, Building Blocks, is a stand-alone curriculum that includes a software component for children with activities and built-in assessments (information available at: http://www.ubbuildingblocks.org/). The software-based teaching tool, Building Blocks Learning Trajectories, is a resource for teachers to improve their implementation of individualized lesson planning for each student. The in-person professional development components provided hands-on instruction on how to individualize teaching for students and incorporate the Building Blocks and Building Blocks Learning Trajectories components of the intervention. Note, the Building Blocks curriculum was not used during the kindergarten year for the TRIAD-FT intervention. Rather, teachers incorporated the district’s kindergarten curriculum with the other components of TRIAD.
The comparison condition continued with the business-as-usual professional development and curriculum.
The TRIAD kindergarten teachers were trained for 32 hours over seven sessions throughout the year. Participation for all professional development hours ranged from 16% to 100% with a mean of 63%. Staff also met with pre-K and K staff at each school for those with FT in order to facilitate sharing information. Training of pre-K teachers focused on the introduction of the new curriculum, but for K teachers the focus was on formative assessment. Teachers studied trajectories using Building Blocks Learning Trajectories (BBLT).
Reviewed: July 2014
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.
|
Outcome measure |
Comparison | Period | Sample |
Intervention mean |
Comparison mean |
Significant? |
Improvement index |
Evidence tier |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. Business as usual |
Posttest |
TRIAD-FT;
|
53.47 |
51.61 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. Business as usual |
Posttest |
TRIAD-NFT;
|
52.64 |
51.61 |
Yes |
|
|
|
Research-based Elementary Math Assessment (REMA) |
Technology-enhanced, Research-based, Instruction, Assessment, and professional Development (TRIAD) vs. TRIAD-NFT |
Posttest |
TRIAD-FT;
|
53.22 |
52.64 |
No |
-- |
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Black | 53% | |
| White | 19% |
| Hispanic | 22% | |
| Not Hispanic or Latino | 78% |
In the case of multiple manuscripts that report on one study, the WWC selects one manuscript as the primary citation and lists other manuscripts that describe the study as additional sources.
Clements, D. H., Sarama, J., & Liu, X. (2008). Development of a measure of early mathematics achievement using the Rasch model: The research-based math assessment. Educational Psychology, 28(4), 457–482.
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.
Based on the direction, magnitude, and statistical significance of the findings within a domain, the WWC characterizes the findings from a study as one of the following: statistically significant positive effects, substantively important positive effects, indeterminate effects, substantively important negative effects, and statistically significant negative effects. For more, please see the WWC Handbook.
The WWC may review studies for multiple purposes, including different reports and re-reviews using updated standards. Each WWC review of this study is listed in the dropdown. Details on any review may be accessed by making a selection from the drop down list.
Evidence Tier
The Department of Education’s evidence tiers. For more information, please see the WWC Glossary entry for evidence tiers.
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