Project Activities
The researchers will conduct a cluster-randomized controlled trial of the STEPSS intervention. The STEPSS replacement unit is designed to meet the full scope of the curriculum standards for statistics and probability in grade 7. As part of the intervention, teachers receive 4 days of professional learning opportunities to increase their knowledge of statistics and support implementation of the replacement unit in their classrooms. This study represents a conceptual replication of the same intervention that was evaluated through a previous randomized controlled trial. The comparison-condition schools will carry on with business-as-usual curriculum, instructional practice, and professional development in statistics and probability.
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study will take place in urban, suburban, and rural school districts in Florida.
Sample
The sample will include grade 7 teachers and students in approximately 60 public schools-regular and charter-in partner districts. The sample will be representative of the general population of grade 7 students and teachers in Florida and, to a lesser extent, the United States public schools. All grade 7 mathematics students of consenting teachers will be included in the sample.
The STEPSS intervention is a replacement unit, which consists of two main components: (1) curricular resources and (2) associated teacher professional development (PD). STEPSS includes a 20-day curriculum unit written, vetted, and published by the American Statistical Association (ASA) and is designed to replace the district-adopted curriculum materials to support teaching and learning of the state curriculum standards in probability and statistics at grade 7 (regular and advanced). Teachers in the STEPSS intervention receive the teacher's guide for a set of 12 lesson plans. They also receive class sets of consumable student booklets for the curriculum replacement unit and other materials that are necessary to implement the lessons. Teachers in the STEPSS program also participate in 4 days of professional development workshops designed to support implementation of the curriculum resources. Most of the workshop time consists of teachers participating in the same lessons they will be expected to teach students, thereby maximizing the coherence between the PD and curriculum components. The remaining time is allocated to preparing and practicing teaching the lessons.
Research design and methods
The researchers will use a cluster-randomized controlled trial design with blocking at the district level and school-level random assignment to the intervention or comparison condition. Teacher and student outcomes will be measured immediately after completion of the statistics curriculum unit.
Control condition
The comparison condition includes schools, teachers, and students who will continue with business-as-usual curriculum materials, instructional practice, and teacher professional development in statistics.
Key measures
Key measures include Levels of Conceptual Understanding in Statistics to measure teacher and student competence in statistics, the Instructional Quality Assessment to measure instructional practice in statistics, and the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking to measure the effect of the intervention on school achievement in mathematics and statistics.
Data analytic strategy
The researchers will estimate impacts using multilevel models that account for the nesting of student within teachers and teachers within schools. Statistical models will condition on school demographics, student and teacher pretests, years of teaching experience and student participation in advanced mathematics class. The researchers will estimate moderator effects using the same approach by adding interaction terms and will explore the mediating effects of teacher outcomes on student outcomes. They will convert impact estimates to an improvement index that summarizes the improvement in percentile rank experienced by the average control group student.
Cost analysis strategy
The researchers will use the ingredients method to estimate the incremental cost per-student and per-teacher and the cost effectiveness of the STEPSS program. They will base the analysis on the actual, incurred costs of the key components needed to support the intervention during the study period and the effect-size estimate for the student achievement outcomes.
People and institutions involved
IES program contact(s)
Project contributors
Products and publications
This project will result in evidence of the impact and replicability of the STEPPS curriculum and professional-learning intervention on grade 7 student learning in statistics. Dissemination of the study results will include practical implications for schools and districts, a cost analysis, and short-term cost-effectiveness study. The American Statistical Association-one of the project partners-will assist with dissemination of findings and intervention resources through their many channels, including journals, websites, policy recommendations, and access to national leaders in education. To support further replication and scaleup efforts, the curriculum unit will be provided for schools to use and download, free of charge, through the American Statistical Association, along with a list of the qualifications of workshop leaders and a detailed agenda for the teacher workshops.
Publications:
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.
