Year 2

Project AAIMS Activities Year 2: 2005

In January and February, Project AAIMS research team members met with participating teachers in Districts B and C to review the data gathered in the fall term classes. Teachers provided input for revising the measures and, in March and April, a study parallel to those conducted in Fall 2004 was conducted in Districts B and C. The results of this study are reported in Technical Report 10.

In the spring of 2005, District A used three of the algebra measures (Algebra Foundations, Basic Skills, and Content Analysis-Multiple Choice) for a pilot study of weekly progress monitoring. Each week, the teachers administered two forms of one type of algebra measure, alternating with a second type of measure the next week. At the end of the eight-week progress monitoring period, each student in the study received graphs of his/her scores. The research team used the data to examine whether the measures reflected changes in student performance (academic growth) over time. The results of this study are reported in Technical Report 11.

The Project AAIMS Advisory Panel held its Spring 2005 meeting on May 10. Representatives of the three participating districts, including teachers, parents, and administrators, as well as ISU faculty representatives in mathematics education and special education participated in the meeting. Preliminary results of the 2004-05 academic year studies were shared. Small group discussions focused on possible strategies to increase the level of student motivation to put forth serious effort on the research measures.

In the fall of 2005, Project AAIMS staff met with teachers in the three districts in August and early September. The teachers were extremely helpful in allowing us to get an early start with our consent presentations and pretesting on the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test (IAAT). During the 2005-06 school year, Project AAIMS teachers administered the algebra measures in their classes. Each class completed two different types of algebra measures, one in the middle of each month, and one at the end of each month. Data collection began in mid-September and continued through early January (for block schedule classes in Districts B and C) and through April in District A. Students completed the IAAT at the beginning of the data collection as a pretest and an alternate form of the IAAT at the end of their algebra course as a posttest. The results of the fall study in Districts B and C are reported in Technical Report 12.

The Advisory Panel held its fall meeting in October 2005 and provided input on the activities of the project. Teachers were invited to participate in a Project AAIMS retreat that is scheduled for January 2006. At this time, teachers from the three participating districts will meet to review the progress monitoring data collected for their classes during the fall and to discuss options for summarizing that data in meaningful ways that can support their instructional decision-making.