1. A SSESSMENT AND L EARNING IN K NOWLEDGE S PACE By: Sabrina McDow

2. PROBLEM Sweetwater Middle School in Gwinnett County School District, Georgia USA has failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) mainly because of the math Criterion Referenced Competency Test. The next slide shows the scores for 2010, 2009, and 2008 in math. Pay special attention to 6 th and 8 th grade scores. They are below the district and state averages.

3. PROBLEM CONT.

4. R ESEARCH ALEKS is an online software program developed from research at New York University and the University of California, Irvine (UCI) by software engineers, mathemeticians, and scientists with the support of a multi-million-dollar grant from the National Science Foundation. It is based upon original theoretical work in “Knowledge Space Theory”. This work began in the 1980’s by Jean-Claude Falmagne. He is the founder and Chairman of ALEKS Corporation (Introduction to ALEKS).

5. RESEARCH There were several people and organizations that researched the affect of the ALEKS system on improving math test scores. Researchers include the following: Vincent LaVergne from Shawnee Mission South School District Holly Stillson and Parthasarathi Nag from Black Hills State University

6. D EVELOPMENT 1983-1992 Knowledge Space Theory is created. 1992 Professor Falmagne obtained a large NSF grant to develop educational software based on Knowledge Space Theory 1996 ALEKS corporation is founded 1996 The software is made available to K-12 and college students. Current- ALEKS is being used by hundreds of thousands of students

7. COMMERCIALIZATION  The ALEKS software has been granted by UCI to ALEKS Corporation under an exclusive, worldwide, perpetual license (UC Regents and ALEKS Corporation, 2011)  Information about ALEKS is provided in several educational and business journals  ALEKS representatives visit many education professional organization’s conferences

8. K NOWLEDGE Knowledge Space Theory is what the ALEKS system is based. The theory is based on the “knowledge state” of the student. What the student can do? What the student is ready to learn?

9. PERSUASION Relative Advantage – “In contrast to standardized tests, which typically result in numerical measures of achievement or “aptitude”, the outcome of an ALEKS assessment consists in  (i) the precise and comprehensive delineation of an individual’s competence in a subject in the form of his or her knowledge state describing all the types of problems mastered by that individual, and  (ii) a comprehensive list of the topics the individual is ready to learn (referred to in Knowledge Space Theory as the outer fringe of that individual’s knowledge state)” (ALEKS, (2011).

10. D ECISION / IMPLEMENTATION / CONFIRMATION ALEKS is currently being used by hundreds of thousands of students each year in over 50 courses (ALEKS, 2011). Thousands of k-12 schools and higher education institutions around the world are currently using this software (ALEKS, 2011).

11. T HE S-C URVE (E STIMATION )

12. I NNOVATORS AND E ARLY A DOPTERS The innovators and early adopters for this program would be the 8 th grade math teachers and the special education math teachers. These teachers could use the ALEKS program with the current students to test its benefits and ease of use.

13. L AGGARDS The sixth grade math teachers would be the next group of teachers to utilize the system for effectiveness. The laggards would be the seventh grade math teachers because they currently have the highest math scores and will not see the need in trying a new innovation to raise math test scores.

14. L AGGARDS CONT. The best strategy to move the seventh grade teachers towards adopting ALEKS, would be to prove its effectiveness with sixth and eighth grade math.

15. M EETING CRITICAL MASS 1. Triability - Introduce ALEKS to the eighth grade math teachers. They need the most assistance with raising the CRCT scores. 2.Triability - Allow the eighth grade math teachers at least a semester of using the system to rate its effectiveness with our students. 3.Observability - ALEKS to the sixth and seventh grade math teachers, sharing the results from the eighth grade students’ progress. 4.Triability - Allow the sixth grade math teachers to utilize the system the second semester. 5.Observability - Based on CRCT results, decide if the system should continue and be used county wide.

16. D ECENTRALIZED D IFFUSION S YSTEM The ALEKS system should be piloted at Sweetwater Middle School to determine its effectiveness before expanding to the other “Needs Improvement” schools in the district.

17. C HANGE A GENT The Change Agent will be the eighth grade math department chair and an effective eighth grade math teacher. The two agents can work as a team to help the other teachers with the use of ALEKS and conduct an in-service to explain how to use the system and provide the necessary resources to ensure its continued use throughout the life of the program licenses.

18. C RITICAL M ASS Critical mass has not been met for ALEKS. Diffusion networks would be the best way to meet critical mass. Improved test scores will be shared with the public and blamed on the use of the ALEKS program. Other schools and school systems will want to use the system to improve their scores too.

19. CONCLUSION Sweetwater Middle School has not met AYP because of the math CRCT scores. As a school, it is our duty to provide the best possible education for our students. ALEKS is the solution. ALEKS is a technological innovation that offers an opportunity for Sweetwater Middle School to assess the needs of the students’ math skills, individually. ALEKS builds on “what the students already knows”. It will produce the results we are looking for in our scores.

20. R EFERENCES ALEKS Corporation. (2011). Research behind aleks. ALEKS. Retrieved from http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/research_behind http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/research_behind Education.com. (2011). Sweetwater Middle School. Retrieved from http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/georgia/lawrenceville/sweetwater-middle-school/. http://www.education.com/schoolfinder/us/georgia/lawrenceville/sweetwater-middle-school/ Falmagne, J., Doignon, J., Cosyn, E., Thiery, N. (2011). The assessment of knowledge, in theory and in practice. Retrieved from http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/Science_Behind_ALEKS.pdf http://www.aleks.com/about_aleks/Science_Behind_ALEKS.pdf Introduction to ALEKS: A beginner’s guide. Retrieved from http://people.msoe.edu/~jorgensen/ALEKS_Intro.pdf http://people.msoe.edu/~jorgensen/ALEKS_Intro.pdf LaVergne, V. (2007, April 9). The effect of the ALEKS web-based learning system on standardized math scores. Shawnee Mission Board of Education. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/4813630/ALEKS-Action-Research-Results-April-2007. http://www.scribd.com/doc/4813630/ALEKS-Action-Research-Results-April-2007 Stillson, H., Nag, P. (2009). Aleks and mathxl: using online interactive systems to enhance a remedial algebra course. Mathematics and Computer Education: 43(3); Docstoc pg. 239. Retrieved from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/44985516/ALEKS-AND-MATHXL-USING- ONLINE-INTERACTIVE-SYSTEMS-TO-ENHANCE-A-REMEDIAL-ALGEBRA-COURSEhttp://www.docstoc.com/docs/44985516/ALEKS-AND-MATHXL-USING- ONLINE-INTERACTIVE-SYSTEMS-TO-ENHANCE-A-REMEDIAL-ALGEBRA-COURSE