Virginia Mathematics Teacher Spring 2017

therefore, it is assumed that students were comparable in their understanding of the material assessed by the four strands of the Algebra 1 SOL. There are several independent variables included in this study. The first was the pedagogy used within each individual class. Every teacher who taught an Algebra 1 class was trained in the Algebra Project Pedagogy but had also taught traditional Algebra 1 courses before. The only control was that three teachers signed a contract agreeing to pilot the Algebra Project materials in one of their classes. These teachers each taught at least one class that used a traditional curriculum as well. A second independent variable that existed was the Algebra 1 Standards of Learning test itself. This test was created and administered by the Virginia State Department of Education. Data Collection and Instruments The instrument utilized in this study was the Virginia Algebra 1 Standards of Learning test. This test was selected because it was the accepted standard in the state of Virginia for determining mathematics achievement in Algebra 1 courses. The Virginia Department of Education formed a committee that it used to create valid questions for the test to ensure the test validity. This committee ensures that the tests for the upcoming year are of good quality and will accurately measure the achievement in an Algebra 1 course, based upon the Virginia Standards of Learning, of those students who complete the test. The state had various measures in place to ensure the test was valid and the state administered the test to each school district in the state of Virginia. The Virginia SOL test for Algebra 1 was designed to measure how well the students understood the algebra concepts from the Expressions and Operations, Relations and Functions, Equations and Inequalities, and Statistics strands. The test was made up of 60 multiple-choice questions, and students were given as much time as needed to complete the test. Each question had four possible answer choices given, and the student was responsible for selecting the best answer for each question. Ten of the questions administered on the test were field test items and did not count towards a student’s scaled score. The test was administered by computer in the school

district being studied and was given once in the Fall semester and once in the Spring semester. The overall scaled score for the test is based on a 600 point scale, from 0 to 600, with a score of 400 representing the minimum proficiency necessary to be considered passing. Scores of 400 and above are rated as Passing/Proficient, scores of 500 and above are rated as Passing/Advanced, and scores of 600 represent a perfect score. Data Analysis The researcher was one of the teachers who piloted the Algebra Project material and one of the test examiners for the Virginia Standards of Learning Test. The results were analyzed ex post facto. The researcher was granted permission to analyze the results of the students’ tests by the school district’s Superintendent and Division Director of Testing. The researcher interpreted the data from the assessments and sought any statistical significance between the achievement levels of the group who received the intervention and the group that did not receive the intervention. Comparisons of the mean scores on the test measuring achievement were then conducted. The researcher utilized two sample T-tests to compare the mean scores on the SOL test between the group receiving the intervention and students not receiving the intervention during the same testing cycle. This test was appropriate because the mean scores of two independent groups, the students taught using traditional methods and the students taught using AP pedagogy, were being compared on a common dependent variable (Warner, 2013). Independent sample T-tests were also used to compare the mean scores on the SOL test between the group receiving the intervention, and the group not receiving the intervention from the testing cycle immediately preceding the introduction of the intervention. The students’ scores used for the comparison were taken for the years 2007 to 2008

Table 1. Two Sample t-test for SOL Test Scores for Group A vs Group B

N

M

S.D.

S.E.

Group A

25

444.72

38.495

7.699

Group B

61

435.31

35.339

4.525

Virginia Mathematics Teacher vol. 43, no. 2

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