Campuzano, Larissa; Dynarski, Mark; Agodini, Roberto; Rall, Kristina (2009). National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance. Retrieved from: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED504657
Reviewed: February 2017
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 |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Algebra I Test Scores |
Larson Algebra 1 vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Full sample;
|
N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- | ||
| Show Supplemental Findings | |||||||||
|
Algebra I Test Scores |
Larson Algebra 1 vs. Business as usual |
1 Year |
Year 2 only;
|
N/A |
N/A |
No |
-- | ||
Characteristics of study sample as reported by study author.
| Other or unknown | 100% |
The study took place within 5 school districts and across 12 different schools. The school districts were considered to be located in urban fringe areas. The average district had 91 schools with roughly 68,000 students.
Teachers in the classrooms averaged 10 years of teaching experience (intervention = 9.8; comparison = 10.64) with more than half of the teachers holding a master's degree (63%; 63% in intervention and 63% in comparison). The teachers were mostly female with 54% in the intervention and 79% female teachers in the comparison group. Students in these classrooms were an average age of 15. Fifty-one percent of the students were female (intervention = 52%; comparison = 50%) with 9% in grade 8 and 91% in grade 9. No other characteristics were reported.
This supplemental curriculum addresses skill building and problem solving. The topics covered include whole numbers, fractions, decimals, percents, rational numbers, probability and statistics, coordinate geometry, pre-algebra, and algebra I. Teachers get to decide when and how much of each topic is covered. The curriculum developer recommends that the curriculum is used at least once on a weekly basis. The curriculum is designed to be used in computer labs.
Comparison students received business-as-usual.
Teachers received between two hours and one full day of pre-implementation training. Teachers had access to support via phone, email, or the product web site. The estimated annual cost, per student, to implement the program was $13. Of that amount 62% was used for license fees and the remaining 38% was used for teacher training and support, technical support, and printed materials and supplies.
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.
Tier 1 Strong indicates strong evidence of effectiveness,
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).
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