Project Activities
The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis using administrative data to examine the long-term effects of Great Explorations in Mathematics (GEM), a test-based math acceleration program for high-achieving students.
Structured Abstract
The purpose of the study was to evaluate an accelerated middle school math curriculum, Great Explorations in Mathematics (GEM). The GEM program places eligible students in Pre-Algebra in 6th grade, Algebra I in 7th grade, and Geometry in 8th grade, accelerating students by two years relative to the standard curriculum. The project aimed to understand the potential of early academic tracking in promoting and sustaining achievement, especially among underserved students with high math ability, and to examine the effects of an accelerated math track in middle school for students who do and do not participate in the accelerated math track.
Setting
The study included two large school urban districts in Florida.
Sample
The two school districts were demographically similar, with diverse student populations of about one-third black and one-third Hispanic students. About half of all students receive free/reduced price lunches in elementary grades. The study focused on five cohorts of students who enrolled in 6th grade between 2004 and 2008 and who remained in their respective districts through high school. The analysis samples ranged from 16,357 relatively high-scoring students in the GEM district to around 36,000 students across two districts for a between-district analysis.
Middle school mathematics classes are typically tracked into two levels, advanced and regular, with students in the advanced track having the option to take Algebra I in 8th grade. The GEM curriculum, however, collapses the three years of pre-algebra under the standard curriculum into a single year, with Algebra I Honors offered in seventh grade and Geometry Honors offered in eighth grade. Students who pass the Algebra and Geometry courses, and the corresponding statewide end of course exams, earn two high school credits and enter high school prepared to take Algebra II. To qualify for GEM, students must score above the 80th percentile of the math distribution on the Florida statewide achievement test. To stay in the program in subsequent years, students must also earn at least a B grade. In contrast, students who miss the cutoff for enrolling in GEM in 6th grade can be accelerated by at most one grade level (to Algebra I in 8th grade).
Research design and methods
The researchers combined administrative data for individual students from two school districts and college enrollment data from the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC). To evaluate the impact of GEM participation on the intermediate and long-term outcomes of 6th-grade students, the research team used regression discontinuity (RD) methods that compare students just above and below the GEM eligibility threshold. To investigate how the GEM policy affected non-participants as well as participants with scores well above the threshold, the researchers conducted a between-district analysis, comparing students in the GEM district with students who had similar 5th-grade math scores but who were enrolled in a district where there was no accelerated mathematics program for middle school students prior to 2010.
Control condition
In the regression discontinuity analysis within the GEM district, non-participants who barely miss the GEM eligibility threshold serve as a control condition for participants who barely meet the threshold. For the between-district analysis, the control condition is enrollment in a district that is in the same state and is similar in size, overall demographics and test scores, but offers no accelerated mathematics program comparable to GEM.
Key measures
Long-term student outcomes after high school include on-time college entry, college quality, completion of a bachelors degree within 5 years of high school graduation, attainment of a degree in STEM, and attainment of a business-related degree. Intermediate outcomes included math course selection and grades in middle and high school, participation and scores in Advanced Placement courses, and college entry exams.
Data analytic strategy
To conduct the regression discontinuity analysis, researchers estimated local linear regression discontinuity models and tested for robustness to bandwidth selection. The research team also performed tests to rule out manipulation and differential attrition. For the between-school analysis, the control group was created using inverse propensity score weights to re-weight students in the comparison district so that reweighted sample characteristics, including test scores from grades 3-5 and student demographics, are similar to those of the GEM sample. The research team then compared mean outcomes of students in the GEM district to students in the reweighted control group with the same 5th-grade math scores.
Cost analysis strategy
Not applicable due to the use of retrospective administrative data for the study.
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