Year 4

Project AAIMS Activities Year 4: 2007

With the approval of a no-cost extension, Project AAIMS research activities continued through the spring semester of 2007. In January, a teacher retreat was held to review the results of the fall 2006 study. The preliminary analyses revealed no differences in rates of growth for students in the "data" and "no data" conditions. Teachers shared their perceptions of the fall study and expressed concerns about the time delay between students' completing the measures and teachers receiving the corresponding data. These delays resulted from the use of project staff to score the measures and enter the data.

To address this concern and promote the sustainability of teachers' use of the measures beyond the period of the project, the retreat activities focused on training teachers to score the four types of algebra progress monitoring measures. Following demonstration and discussion of scoring procedures, teachers practiced scoring and received feedback on their scoring accuracy. The training session ended with a scoring reliability activity to measure the accuracy of teachers' independent scoring of the measures.

The spring 2007 research study was similar in design to the fall study. Teachers' classes (of a similar type, e.g., Algebra 1) were assigned to one of two conditions, with contrasting levels of engagement with students' progress monitoring data. In the "high engagement" classes, teachers scored students' algebra measures and entered the data into an Excel graphing template. Teachers had immediate and continuous access to students' algebra progress data. In the "low engagement" classes, teachers administered the algebra measures, but project staff completed the scoring and data entry. Once each month, Project AAIMS staff conducted data conferences with teachers to share data for the low engagement classes and discuss teachers' concerns about students (across both types of classes) and possible instructional actions. Although error analysis summaries were prepared for both the low and high engagement classes, teachers reported that the process of scoring students' algebra measures gave them insights into the types of error patterns students were demonstrating. The results of this study are reported in Technical Report 16.

The final (Spring 2007) Project AAIMS Advisory Panel meeting was held on May 7. Project staff provided an overview of the accomplishments of the project, positioning these within the context of the activities outlined in the original proposal. Small group discussions focused on benefits observed and challenges experiences as a result of participation in Project AAIMS. Panel members also shared their perceptions of the most pressing issues in their districts that might be addressed through future collaborations with Iowa State. Project staff outlined the next steps for the Project (completion of final reports, dissemination activities, and sharing master copies of measures and keys with participating teachers). Panel members completed a Final Evaluation form outlining their perceptions of the effectiveness with which project activities were completed effectively.

A final teacher retreat was held on May 16, 2007. Participating general and special education teachers from Districts A and B came to the ISU campus for a daylong session. Project staff summarized preliminary results for the spring semester study, which contrasted two levels of teacher engagement with student data. Teachers provided feedback on their experiences scoring and entering data from students' algebra measures, noting that the process of scoring provided helpful information about common error patterns and was not onerous. Teachers also generated suggestions for tips to offer new adopters of algebra progress monitoring. The retreat concluded with an opportunity to work through a series of activities connecting rectangles, ratios, and slope created by an ISU faculty member in mathematics education.