Two efficacy studies will be conducted across two sites. In Study 1, the researchers will work with 7th grade students and teachers from small and moderately sized schools and districts in Minnesota (MN). As part of their comparison group, the researchers will also look at rural schools. and 7th grade students and teachers from urban high-needs districts on the east coast (EC) to examine the impact of the intervention. The researchers will randomly assign 100 teachers and their students at each site to either the SBI or control condition. In Study 2, the researchers will evaluate the sustainability of the intervention by examining student learning in SBI-experienced classrooms compared to SBI-novice classrooms for both the MN and EC school sites. Teachers who were in the control condition in Study 1 will be given the SBI intervention during Study 2. These novice SBI teachers will be compared to the experienced SBI teachers from Study 1.
Setting
This study will take place in small and moderately sized schools and districts in Minnesota and large urban high need districts on the East Coast of the United States (e.g., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston).
Sample
Approximately 200 seventh-grade teachers and their students, 100 teachers at each site, will participate in the efficacy and sustainability studies.
Researchers will use a multi-wave, cluster randomized design with random assignment of classrooms to the treatment group to evaluate the efficacy of the SBI curriculum on student outcomes and teachers' ability to sustain the intervention without ongoing support from the research team.
Control condition
Control group classrooms will receive business-as-usual instruction for mathematical problem solving and proportional reasoning. The amount of instruction provided will be the same as the SBI group (i.e., 6 weeks).
Key measures
Researchers will use a project-developed mathematical problem-solving test as the primary outcome measure for pre-, post- and retention-tests. The statewide mathematics tests and the Stanford Open-Ended Assessment in mathematics will serve as additional measures of student achievement. A metacognitive strategy knowledge assessment and a student acceptability survey will provide secondary outcomes measures addressing students' metacognition of the problem-solving process and treatment students' acceptance of the SBI curriculum and its perceived effectiveness. Researchers will also collect teacher-level data using: (a) entrance/exit interviews of teachers' personal and professional backgrounds as well as their perceptions of the professional development and subsequent teaching experiences; and (b) an assessment to measure teachers' mathematical knowledge for teaching the instructional content of the intervention (ratios and proportion).
Data analytic strategy
The efficacy of the intervention will be evaluated using a series of hierarchical linear models (HLMs). Specifically, to test the impact of SBI on change in student outcomes over time, a three-level HLM will be used with the pre-test, post-test, and retention outcomes treated as repeated measures that are nested within students who are nested within classrooms/teachers.
Products: Products will include evidence of the efficacy of SBI to improve students mathematical problem solving and proportional reasoning. Peer reviewed publications will also be produced.
Book chapter
Vig, R., Star, J.R., Dupuis, D.N., Lein, A.E., and Jitendra, A.K. (2015). Exploring the Impact of Knowledge of Multiple Strategies on Students' Learning About Proportions. In J.A. Middleton, and J. Cai (Eds.), Large-Scale Studies in Mathematics Education (pp. 61-73). New York: Springer.
Journal article, monograph, or newsletter
Jitendra, A.K., Dupuis, D.N., Star, J.R., and Rogriguez, M.C. (2016). The Effects of Schema-Based Instruction on the Proportional Thinking of Students With Mathematics Difficulties With and Without Reading Difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49 (4): 354-367.
Jitendra, A.K., Harwell, M.R., Dupuis, D.N., and Karl, S.R. (2017). A Randomized Trial of the Effects of Schema-Based Instruction on Proportional Problem-Solving for Students With Mathematics Problem-Solving Difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50 (3): 322-336.
Jitendra, A.K., Harwell, M.R., Dupuis, D.N., Karl, S. R., Lein, A.E., Simonson, G. & Slater, S.C. (2015). Effects of a Research-Based Intervention to Improve Seventh-Grade Students' Proportional Problem Solving: A Cluster Randomized Trial. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107 (4): 1019-1034.
Jitendra, A.K., Harwell, M.R., Karl, S.R., Dupuis, D.N., Simonson, G., Slater, S.C., and Lein, A.E. (2016). Schema-Based Instruction: Effects of Experienced and Novice Teacher Implementers on Seventh Grade Students' Proportional Problem Solving. Learning and Instruction, 44 : 53-64.
Jitendra, A.K., Harwell, M.R., Karl, S.R., Simonson, G.R., and Slater, S.C (2017). Investigating A Tier 1 Intervention Focused on Proportional Reasoning: A Follow-Up Study. Exceptional Children, 83 (4).
Lein, A.E., Jitendra, A.K., Starosta, K., Dupuis, D.N., Hughes, C., and Star, J. (2016). Assessing the Relation between Seventh-Grade Students' Engagement and Mathematical Problem Solving Performance. Preventing School Failure, 60 (2): 117-123.
Co-Principal Investigator: Jon Star (Harvard University)
