EDP 520 – R ESEARCH IN E DUCATION By Obed Nartey

Title – Accelerated Math Program Do students who use the “Accelerated Math” program achieve higher Math scores on the Mathematics California State Tests than students who are taught through traditional, print teaching methods?

Introduction Years have shown that math programs have been implemented by districts and schools, only to see them fail, and ultimately be replaced by some other new “inventive” math curriculum. With the increasing number of test taken by students the results have demonstrated, especially in urban areas, basic math skills at grade levels are either below or far below their grade level. My analysis will look at the effect of the math program, Accelerated math (AM) has on math test scores from the Mathematics California Content Standards Test (CST).

Introduction Do students who use the Accelerated math program achieve higher math scores on the Mathematics California State Tests than students who are taught through traditional, print teaching methods? The study will have two groups, the experimental group using Accelerated Math software, and the control group, using traditional, print teaching methods. The research will use the 2009 and 2010 Math CST scores to measure if the AM software was a useful and positive resource in the outcome of their scores.

Accelerated Math Program Accelerated Math + Your Instruction = Success! How Accelerated Math Provides Personalized Practice Teacher Reviews Status of the Class. This instant progress report helps you plan your day and manage each student's activities. Teacher Delivers Instruction. You introduce a new math objective using your existing textbook and instructional methods. Accelerated Math libraries are aligned to state standards and work with virtually any textbook. Students Practice Objectives. You assign new objectives and print individualized practice assignments and math quizzes using Accelerated Math's built-in assignment book. Teacher Reviews Objectives. You provide small group re-teaching or additional instruction as needed based on feedback from the software's management tools. Teacher Monitors Progress. You print the Diagnostic Report to monitor the performance of each student's progress and identify struggling students.

Literature The Accelerated Math program is one component of a comprehensive school reform program called the School Renaissance and Math Renaissance program. Currently, the Accelerated Math program has been implemented in more than 65,000 schools in the United States (Nunnery, 2006). Renaissance Learning states “Morgan Elementary is a Title I school where 46% of students are eligible for free/reduced lunch. After implementing Accelerated Math and Math Facts in a Flash in 2001, 3rd-grade math scores on the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Progress (ISTEP+) have grown from 64% of students meeting standards in 2002 to 90% in 2006, and 4th graders'—added to ISTEP+ in 2005—math scores have increased from 84% passing in 2005 to 91% in 2006.” (Renaissance Learning, 2008)

Literature There have been frequent studies carried out on the outcome Accelerated Math program has on student accomplishment. Nunnery, J.A., & Ross, S.M. (in press) investigated the effects of AM on students achievement in the grades 3 to 8 in a suburban Texas school district (McKinney Independent School District) and the results of this study show that the Renaissance progress monitoring software contributed to increased achievement of McKinney students who used the tools as compared to schools that did not use Renaissance Learning progress-monitoring tools.

Methodology The main goal is to construct an experiment to discover whether the use of Accelerated Math is associated with higher score outcomes on the Mathematics California Content Standards Test. The experimentation will take place in Urban Middle/High School in Compton, California. Study participants include 104 students in both Grade 9 and 10.

Methodology EthnicityPercentage African American52 Hispanic36 Caucasian16 Other1 SexPercentage Male60 Female40

Methodology Two classes will be assigned to the intervention group implementing the AM program. The other two classes will use AM, but will teach using textbooks, workbooks and other print resources. All of the teachers in the study have completed training for the curriculum, text materials, as well as training in classroom management and motivation.

Threats to internal validity Threats to Internal Validity: History Although a summer and a school year will pass between the beginning of the experiment and the end, history is not a threat to the study’s internal validity because we can assume that external events are as likely to affect the experimental as the control group.

Variables The independent variable is the use of AM in teaching the basic math skills and the dependent variable is the Mathematics score on the CST given at the end of the year.

Data Analysis I will use the statistical program, Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 15.0 to conduct data analysis. I will use the program to perform descriptive statistics to determine measures of central tendency (mean, median and mode), measures of variability (range, variance and standard deviation) and measure of relationship (Pearson Product Moment Correlation).

Conclusion Even though this study has not been conducted, the need for narrow studies on math and the use of Accelerated Math as it impacts standardized tests is necessary. To what extent does Accelerated Math affect Math scores on standardized tests?